Iowa Parents, You’re Paying The Least Amount In Child Care

If you're a parent, you know that paying for child care in Iowa isn't cheap. When you tell your other parent friends, "Oh, I'm only paying $200 for my child to go to daycare," you mean per week. That's $800 a month, we can do the math, Regina.

But the cost of child care isn't cheap and it's definitely not going down. I know I put $200 in my sarcastic opening paragraph, but Iowa is the only state on average paying less than $200 per week for child care.

Looking at it from that perspective, be thankful to be a parent sending your kid to daycare in Iowa because it doesn't get any cheaper.

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Cost Of Child Care In The U.S.

The average cost of child care per week in the U.S. is $325.39, according to a study done by helpadvisor.com. They examined the latest available data from the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey to identify the states and cities in which residents pay the most for childcare and may be the most affected by the expiration of federal funding for childcare that was included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The study shows that U.S. families spend an average of 27% of their household income on childcare. And as pandemic-era childcare assistance expired on September 30, 2023, millions of families may soon begin feeling the pinch.

Iowa Parents Pay The Least For Child Care

If you're a parent sending your kid or kids to a daycare in Iowa, be happy knowing that you're probably paying the least amount for child care.

Nevada parents pay around $493.46 per week for childcare. The other states (and Washington D.C.) in the top 5 also pay more than $400 per week and they include New Jersey, Washington D.C., Hawaii, and Washington.

Illinois parents pay around $379.37 per week for childcare putting Illinois in the top 10 most expensive states for childcare. That's insane.

And then there's Iowa. Iowa ranks as the least expensive state for childcare and the only state with an average weekly childcare cost that's below $200. On average, an Iowa parent pays $182.42 per week for childcare. I know that's still not cheap, but it's a lot better than almost $500.