State guide · 2022 official data
Childcare costs in North Carolina
Compare a typical county, then find the county where care is provided.
A typical county in North Carolina
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
- $223per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $181 / week99 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $214 / week · 2661 counties≈ About the same as the national median
- Toddler · center
- $175per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $142 / week99 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $189 / week · 2663 counties↓ Lower than the national median
- Preschool · center
- $152per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $123 / week99 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $178 / week · 2670 counties↓ Lower than the national median
- Infant · home-based
- $187per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $151 / week98 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $177 / week · 2584 counties↑ Higher than the national median
Prices describe cost, not quality. Ask providers for current quotes.
North Carolina county pages
26 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wake County | $307 | $379 |
| Mecklenburg County | $284 | $350 |
| Guilford County | $227 | $279 |
| Forsyth County | $203 | $250 |
| Cumberland County | $183 | $226 |
| Durham County | $317 | $391 |
| Buncombe County | $191 | $235 |
| Union County | $248 | $306 |
| Gaston County | $148 | $182 |
| New Hanover County | $223 | $275 |
| Cabarrus County | $258 | $318 |
| Johnston County | $216 | $267 |
| Onslow County | $203 | $250 |
| Iredell County | $223 | $275 |
| Alamance County | $145 | $179 |
| Pitt County | $208 | $257 |
| Davidson County | $181 | $223 |
| Catawba County | $183 | $226 |
| Rowan County | $199 | $245 |
| Orange County | $355 | $438 |
| Randolph County | $191 | $236 |
| Brunswick County | $184 | $227 |
| Harnett County | $197 | $243 |
| Robeson County | $148 | $182 |
| Wayne County | $153 | $189 |
| Henderson County | $195 | $240 |
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