State guide · 2022 official data
Childcare costs in Alabama
Compare a typical county, then find the county where care is provided.
A typical county in Alabama
Unweighted medians of available county medians across the full source. These are not the prices paid by a typical resident or pooled provider medians.
- Infant · center
- $166per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $135 / week67 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $214 / week · 2661 counties↓ Lower than the national median
- Toddler · center
- $162per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $132 / week67 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $189 / week · 2663 counties↓ Lower than the national median
- Preschool · center
- $154per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $125 / week67 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $178 / week · 2670 counties↓ Lower than the national median
- Infant · home-based
- $159per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $129 / week67 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $177 / week · 2584 counties↓ Lower than the national median
Prices describe cost, not quality. Ask providers for current quotes.
Alabama county pages
10 county pages in the national 500-county launch set, ordered by source-vintage population. The statewide benchmarks above use all available counties, not just these pages.
| County | 2022 official data | September 2026 estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County | $147 | $181 |
| Mobile County | $133 | $164 |
| Madison County | $136 | $168 |
| Baldwin County | $133 | $164 |
| Tuscaloosa County | $136 | $168 |
| Montgomery County | $146 | $179 |
| Shelby County | $147 | $182 |
| Lee County | $135 | $166 |
| Morgan County | $136 | $168 |
| Calhoun County | $115 | $142 |
What this means
Use the same age group and care setting when comparing costs. A statewide typical-county figure can hide substantial local differences. CPI-adjusted figures apply national inflation to 2022 prices; they are not new local observations.
Sources & data dates
- Prices
- DOL Women’s Bureau NDCP, study year 2022. County estimates from state market-rate surveys; some values are standardized or imputed.
- Inflation
- BLS day care and preschool CPI-U (not seasonally adjusted), September 2026. These are adjusted estimates, not new local observations.
- Income & population
- Census ACS fields distributed in the DOL workbook’s 2022 rows: MFI (family income, DP03) and TOTALPOP (DP05). Income share uses 2022 prices only.
- Retrieved
- 2026-11-03 (DOL); 2026-11-03 (BLS)
- Method
- Units, typical-county benchmarks, ZIP matching and limitations