State guide · 2022 official data
Childcare costs in Washington
Compare a typical county, then find the county where care is provided.
A typical county in Washington
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
- $404per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $328 / week39 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $214 / week · 2661 counties↑ Higher than the national median
- Toddler · center
- $307per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $249 / week39 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $189 / week · 2663 counties↑ Higher than the national median
- Preschool · center
- $307per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $249 / week39 reporting counties in this stateNational typical county: $178 / week · 2670 counties↑ Higher than the national median
- Infant · home-based
- $304per week · September 2026 CPI estimate2022 official data: $246 / week39 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.
Washington county pages
12 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 |
|---|---|---|
| King County | $478 | $590 |
| Pierce County | $328 | $404 |
| Snohomish County | $363 | $447 |
| Spokane County | $288 | $356 |
| Clark County | $357 | $441 |
| Thurston County | $357 | $441 |
| Kitsap County | $328 | $404 |
| Yakima County | $270 | $333 |
| Whatcom County | $363 | $447 |
| Benton County | $270 | $333 |
| Skagit County | $363 | $447 |
| Cowlitz County | $357 | $441 |
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