Childcare Workers salary

SOC 39-9011 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$34,980

per year, nationally

Middle half

$29,360–$38,570

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

518,910

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

-2.9%

160,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$24,260$46,010

10th: $24,260
25th: $29,360
Median: $34,980
75th: $38,570
90th: $46,010

Getting in

Typical education to enter: High school diploma or equivalent
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where childcare workers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$47,340	109.9	1,350	0.58×
2	Washington	$41,680	107.0	4,340	0.37×
3	Massachusetts	$40,900	105.8	13,140	1.08×
4	Colorado	$40,750	103.1	13,310	1.39×
5	California	$40,020	110.7	52,780	0.87×
6	Oregon	$38,650	103.4	5,240	0.80×
7	Vermont	$38,030	98.0	—	—
8	New York	$37,590	107.9	44,020	1.36×
9	New Hampshire	$37,080	104.2	2,820	1.24×
10	Hawaii	$37,030	110.0	1,870	0.89×
11	Rhode Island	$36,940	102.3	1,800	1.08×
12	Connecticut	$36,660	103.6	12,020	2.12×
13	New Jersey	$36,390	108.8	25,070	1.75×
14	Maine	$36,350	97.0	4,990	2.33×
15	Alaska	$36,200	102.4	1,340	1.24×
16	Maryland	$36,030	105.0	9,750	1.06×
17	New Mexico	$35,840	92.2	4,120	1.42×
18	Illinois	$35,830	100.0	23,900	1.17×
19	Minnesota	$35,520	98.6	11,570	1.17×
20	Montana	$35,120	94.6	2,190	1.29×
21	Arizona	$35,100	100.7	5,530	0.51×
22	Virginia	$34,330	101.1	13,930	1.02×
23	Florida	$34,210	103.4	21,760	0.66×
24	Delaware	$33,210	99.8	1,230	0.76×
25	Wisconsin	$32,460	94.1	5,560	0.57×
26	Utah	$31,630	98.9	4,830	0.83×
27	Michigan	$30,970	96.2	14,010	0.95×
28	Missouri	$30,790	90.8	12,430	1.27×
29	Nebraska	$30,740	90.1	9,390	2.75×
30	North Dakota	$30,290	89.0	4,030	2.81×
31	Indiana	$30,180	93.3	8,280	0.78×
32	Idaho	$30,160	95.5	4,430	1.55×
33	Pennsylvania	$30,140	97.6	13,000	0.64×
34	Nevada	$29,740	100.0	3,740	0.72×
35	Ohio	$29,680	92.8	11,300	0.61×
36	Tennessee	$29,660	91.9	13,650	1.25×
37	South Carolina	$29,650	93.7	10,660	1.39×
38	Kansas	$29,240	90.1	7,430	1.55×
39	North Carolina	$29,140	94.3	12,550	0.76×
40	Kentucky	$28,920	90.2	5,820	0.87×
41	Texas	$28,570	97.1	34,160	0.73×
42	Arkansas	$28,450	86.9	5,400	1.24×
43	Iowa	$28,420	87.8	6,020	1.16×
44	Wyoming	$28,250	92.7	1,110	1.19×
45	Georgia	$28,020	96.3	21,040	1.29×
46	South Dakota	$27,940	88.6	2,370	1.56×
47	Oklahoma	$27,730	87.8	7,590	1.33×
48	West Virginia	$27,710	89.5	1,930	0.83×
49	Louisiana	$22,900	88.2	8,000	1.24×
50	Alabama	$22,720	88.8	4,580	0.65×
51	Mississippi	$22,050	87.0	5,420	1.40×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where childcare workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for childcare workers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	$47,300	102.4	1,530	1.35×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$45,720	110.4	3,090	0.82×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$44,540	115.6	8,260	1.04×
4	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$44,320	105.8	7,870	1.47×
5	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$43,710	111.1	2,520	0.36×
6	Barnstable Town, MA	$43,480	98.4	270	0.86×
7	Boulder, CO	$43,380	105.2	1,060	1.65×
8	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$42,860	108.6	370	0.90×
9	Longview-Kelso, WA	$42,300	97.5	30	0.23×
10	Modesto, CA	$41,920	104.1	660	1.01×
11	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$41,590	108.3	10,440	1.16×
12	Napa, CA	$41,570	112.6	170	0.65×
13	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$41,260	107.8	620	0.91×
14	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$40,560	100.2	240	1.10×
15	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$40,210	106.4	5,110	0.89×
16	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$40,150	102.4	60	0.31×
17	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$40,010	105.1	810	0.84×
18	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$39,890	113.6	16,530	0.79×
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$39,800	111.9	4,420	0.86×
20	Flagstaff, AZ	$39,640	100.3	150	0.69×
21	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$39,590	105.4	3,020	0.75×
22	Salinas, CA	$39,520	109.0	530	0.85×
23	Worcester, MA	$39,300	102.5	1,230	1.06×
24	Vallejo, CA	$38,850	108.5	570	1.18×
25	Bellingham, WA	$38,820	103.3	130	0.43×
26	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$38,690	105.6	110	0.35×
27	Pittsfield, MA	$38,410	95.1	180	0.95×
28	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$38,390	108.8	790	1.18×
29	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$38,390	103.7	240	0.56×
30	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$38,390	106.7	2,280	0.63×
31	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$38,340	110.5	860	0.80×
32	El Centro, CA	$38,220	95.2	380	1.76×
33	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$38,130	103.9	60	0.33×
34	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$38,050	109.9	330	1.01×
35	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$38,030	100.9	—	—
36	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$38,020	106.9	3,720	2.76×
37	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$37,870	112.6	48,780	1.54×
38	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$37,840	100.1	180	0.41×
39	Redding, CA	$37,820	100.7	240	1.00×
40	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$37,610	108.9	11,650	1.11×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where childcare workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Recreation Workers$36,560
Exercise Trainers and Group Fitness Instructors$47,160
Residential Advisors$42,240
Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other$41,600