Resources
Guides for parents choosing child care
Short, specific answers to the questions that come up before you tour a single provider. Every figure carries the government document it came from and the date we last checked it.
How these guides are sourced
Sources20 government documentsEvery figure cites the agency that published itCoverage51 jurisdictionsAll 50 states plus DC, from each state's own filingLast verifiedAugust 5, 2026The date a person last read each source backCorrectionsReport an errorWrong or moved figures are re-checked at the sourceGuide
Help paying for child careIncome limits for all 51 CCDF jurisdictions, who qualifies for Head Start, and the two tax breaks most working families miss.
Read the guide85% of state median income
The federal ceiling every CCDF program has to answer to. Source: Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care - Read the guide
Guide
Types of child care programsWhat infant rooms, preschool, Montessori, and school-age care actually differ on, and which providers near you run each.
- Read the guide
Guide
What child care costsWhat drives the price, how the federal index has moved, and the rules on subsidy co-payments after the 2026 change.
Where these numbers come from
Figures in these guides are copied from the agency that publishes them, never from a summary of a summary. Each one is dated, so you can see how fresh it is and check it yourself. If a figure is wrong or has moved, we would rather hear about it.