National Database of Childcare Prices, [United States], 2008-2022 (ICPSR 39332)
Version Date: Dec 9, 2025 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Bridget Brown, ICF International;
Kenley Branscome, ICF International;
Randal ZuWallack, ICF International;
Georgia Poyatzis, United States Department of Labor. Women's Bureau;
Erin George, United States Department of Labor. Women's Bureau
Series:
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39332.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP) provides childcare prices at the county level in the United States. The NDCP is a new data source, and the most comprehensive federal source of childcare prices at the county level in the United States. The NDCP was developed to fill a need for local-level childcare price data, standardized across U.S. states. Most existing sources of childcare price data provide prices at the state level, yet parents must choose childcare providers that are in close proximity to their homes or workplaces. Therefore, state averages are unlikely to be good estimates of the prices parents encounter in the market. State average prices do not reflect the substantial variation in prices from one locale to the next within a state and underestimate prices in urban areas.
The NDCP provides data on the price of childcare by children's age groups and care setting (home-based or center-based) at the median and 75th percentile over a 15-year period (2008-2022, inclusive) at the county level. The data were obtained from state Lead Agencies responsible for conducting market rate surveys (MRS) according to Child Care and Development Fund regulations. A MRS is the collection and analysis of prices charged by childcare providers for services in the priced market. All state Lead Agencies must conduct a survey and develop a report on local childcare prices in their state every three years. The Women's Bureau contracted with ICF to obtain reports and data from previously conducted surveys to develop the NDCP. The NDCP standardizes and harmonizes data across years and geographies for about 200 previously conducted MRS. The NDCP also provides county-level demographic and economic data from the American Community Survey.
The accompanying User Guide (National Database of Childcare Prices: Technical Report) provides detailed information about the data sources, data collection strategy, standardization and imputation of the data, and data limitations to inform and assist researchers who may be interested in using the data for future analyses. The following items are provided in the User Guide as appendices.
- Appendix A: Data Collection Protocol and Decisions Made During Data Entry Process, Including State Nuances
- Appendix B: List of Imputations Performed for Each State and Year
- Appendix C: County-Level Data Dictionary
- Appendix D: Methods Used for Specific Demographic Variables - County
- Appendix E: State-Level Data Dictionary
- Appendix F: Methods Used for Specific Demographic Variables - State
- Appendix G: 2008-2018 Imputations for County-Level Childcare Prices from Statewide Data
- Appendix H: Price Quintile Ranges for State-Level Price Database
- Appendix I: Summary of Additional 2008-2018 Data Added as a Result of Additional In-Between Study Imputations
Citation View help for Citation
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Funding View help for Funding
Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms
Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit
County
Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)
Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)
Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection
Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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The study team at the Department of Labor Women's Bureau cannot answer questions directly about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Market Rate Survey briefs, which are available to download in this collection.
- For additional information on the Childcare Prices study, please visit the National Database of Childcare Prices website.
- This study is related to ICPSR 38303 "National Database of Childcare Prices, [United States], 2008-2018". Please refer to both studies for similar study information and characteristics.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
To better understand how childcare prices affect women's labor supply, the Women's Bureau contracted ICF to compile a database of county-level childcare prices. The data were collected from state studies of childcare prices conducted between 2008 and 2022.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Data Sources
The National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP) draws data from state childcare market rate surveys (MRS), in addition to county-level demographic and economic data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. The childcare price information requested for this database came entirely from the MRS final reports that states produced and/or the data files used to prepare the reports.
The MRS collect data on regulated childcare centers, which are typically located in commercial buildings and serve multiple groups or classrooms of similarly aged children. They also collect data on regulated family childcare homes, which care for small groups of children in a residential building, such as a house, apartment, or condo unit. While some surveys may collect data on other segments of the market, such as publicly subsidized preschool programs, Head Start or informal, unregulated family childcare, these data are not typically included in the analysis of childcare prices and were not included in the database.
Data Collection
Between December 2019 and February 2020, ICF conducted outreach to each U.S. state and the District of Columbia requesting all available MRS reports from 1998-2018. Outreach communication included mail, emails, and direct phone calls. A total of 35 states provided MRS reports during the data collection period. ICF also supplemented this outreach by searching for additional MRS reports on state childcare agency websites or other partner agency websites. This search resulted in approximately 46 additional MRS reports that were added to the database. The data collection process produced at least one year of data for each state. On average, ICF received 4.5 years of MRS data per state. Data availability pre-2008 was scarce, thus the NDCP Project Team decided to publish data available from 2008-2018, with 2022 being the most recently available year at the time of collection.
Given the variations in state methodologies and availability of MRS data, to create a complete database of county-level prices, each state required imputing some price values. Additionally, detailed imputations were carried out to populate data elements that were missing across counties and years from American Community Survey. Please see the NDCP User Guide for full details.
Sample View help for Sample
All U.S. states and the District of Columbia were in the universe for the data collection. States and counties were not sampled. Data are made available for years and geographies the states had available in their market rate surveys and where possible to impute missing data with adequate precision at the county level.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
All U.S. counties
Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation
Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)
Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection
Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
The Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices contains a public-use data set that draws data from state childcare market price surveys (MRS), in addition to county-level demographic and labor market data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. The childcare price information requested for this database came entirely from the MRS final reports that states produced and/or the data files used to prepare the reports.
General Information That Was Extracted from MRS Reports:
- State
- Geographic reporting level (state, region, county, cluster)
- Age span used to define age groups in the state (infants, toddlers, preschool and school-age)
- Year of survey
- Mode of survey administration (mail, phone, internet)
- Survey response rates for center-based care
- Survey response rates for family/home-based childcare
Childcare Prices Information That Was Extracted from MRS Reports (if applicable):
- Median price of center-based full-time weekly care for infants
- Median price of center-based full-time weekly care for toddlers
- Median price of center-based full-time weekly care for preschool children
- Median price of center-based full-time weekly care for school-age children
- Median price of family full-time weekly childcare for infants
- Median price of family full-time weekly childcare for toddlers
- Median price of family full-time weekly childcare for preschool children
- Median price of family full-time weekly childcare for school-age children
- 75th percentile price of center-based full-time weekly care for infants
- 75th percentile price of center-based full-time weekly care for toddlers
- 75th percentile price of center-based full-time weekly care for preschool children
- 75th percentile price of center-based full-time weekly care for school-age children
- 75th percentile price of family full-time weekly childcare for infants
- 75th percentile price of family full-time weekly childcare for toddlers
- 75th percentile price of family full-time weekly childcare for preschool children
- 75th percentile price of family full-time weekly childcare for school-age children
General Demographic and Labor Market Information That Was Extracted from ACS:
- Employment rates
- Unemployment rates
- Labor force participation rates
- Poverty rates
- Earnings and income
- Population and household counts
- Race and ethnicity distributions
- Employment distributions by major occupational group
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
ICF requested previously published market rate surveys (MRS) from Lead Agencies of all U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A total of 35 states and DC provided MRS reports during the initial data collection period (2008-2018) and a total of 47 states and territories provided MRS reports during the subsequent data collection period (2019-2022). For states where publicly available data was not readily accessible or for which additional data was needed, ICF contacted the appropriate state office following the established protocol approved by the Office of Management and Budget.
In several states, data gaps exist for entire counties, specific age groups, or provider types. Some states provided reasons for these gaps, such as low response rates, insufficient provider numbers, or the unavailability of certain types of care. However, other states did not explain the absence of data. ICF could only report data that was either directly obtained from the states or found in state MRS reports online, ensuring the data's integrity.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2025-12-09
Version History View help for Version History
2025-12-09 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created variable labels and/or value labels.
- Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.
Notes
These data are freely available to data users at ICPSR member institutions. The curation and dissemination of this study are provided by the institutional members of ICPSR. How do I access ICPSR data if I am not at a member institution?