Child Care

2 Mass. Counties Rank Among the Most Expensive for Infant Care Nationwide

The cost of childcare in those counties worked out to be nearly 20% of the median family income

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Two counties in Massachusetts had some of the highest childcare costs in the entire country, according to new data from the Department of Labor that was analyzed by The Boston Globe.

Families in Middlesex County and Norfolk County, Massachusetts pay a median price of over $26,000 for center-based infant care annually, according to the Globe. The only counties in the U.S. that ranked ahead of Middlesex and Norfolk were Arlington County, Virginia and San Francisco County, California, according to the Globe.

After-school child care options remain in high demand and low supply in the Boston area.

Suffolk and Essex Counties in Massachusetts also ranked high, with both of them within the top 20 nationwide in the dataset for infant childcare costs.

All 14 Massachusetts counties were in the top 100 for that same ranking.

In 2022, some 63% of parents report child care has become more expensive over the past year, according to a survey by Care.com. That high number has many concerned about whether they can afford care and what changes they may have to make to accommodate the rising costs.

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