According to a report released by the real estate platform Redfin on Monday (17th), the typical American household needs to allocate half of its income to housing and childcare expenses.
Data from Redfin and childcare service platform Winnie shows that now, after purchasing a home, a typical middle-class family will spend 52% of its annual income on housing and childcare expenses.
As children enter public preschool or kindergarten, these costs may decrease, but researchers note that the location of the family’s residence will have a significant impact on these expenses.
Among the 100 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States, working-class families residing in Little Rock, Arkansas, have the lowest combined housing and childcare costs totaling $29,151 per year, accounting for about 40% of the median annual income in the area (approximately $73,000).
The next two metropolitan areas with the lightest financial burdens are Oklahoma City and Des Moines, Iowa. In Oklahoma City, housing and childcare costs represent 40.8% of the median annual income, while in Des Moines it is 41.8%.
In contrast, Los Angeles has the highest housing and childcare costs in the country at $94,613, making up 96.8% of the median annual income in the area ($98,000).
The following metropolitan areas with the heaviest financial burdens are New York City and San Francisco, where housing and childcare costs represent 95% and 94.2% of income, respectively.
Sara Mauskopf, co-founder and CEO of Winnie, emphasized that families need to consider childcare and early childhood education expenses when assessing their affordability.
Mauskopf stated in a release that families considering relocation should weigh these two major expenses and employment opportunities when deciding on a place to settle.
She reminded families to ensure that the desired area does indeed have childcare services. Even if other aspects of living costs in an area are manageable, if childcare services are scarce or unaffordable, it may not be a practical living location for families with young children.
Redfin’s report highlights that childcare costs as a percentage of family income vary significantly across cities. For example, in Dallas, this ratio is only 11%, the lowest in the country; followed by Charleston, South Carolina (11.4%), and Austin, Texas (11.6%).
For years, American families have been grappling with high childcare costs.
Care.com released its 13th annual “Cost of Care Survey” in January 2026. The report found that in 2025, the average weekly cost for daycare or home childcare centers for one child exceeded $300. For families with two children, this number is slightly below $600.
From a broader perspective, the financial strain of childcare costs is increasing. According to a report from KPMG, childcare cost increases have far exceeded the overall inflation rate.
The report shows that from 1990 to April 2024, daycare and preschool education costs increased by 263%. In comparison, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 133% during the same period.
Researchers at KPMG attribute this substantial increase to labor shortages in the childcare and elder care sectors, leading to a faster rise in related charges than inflation.
Glencora Haskins, a senior research assistant at the Brookings Institution, believes that federal and state governments need to implement reforms to adapt to the evolving situation, ensuring that working-class families can afford childcare expenses. Additionally, the federal government could increase subsidies, and states could set fee caps.
In a paper published in July, Haskins stated that no state in the US meets the childcare affordability standard set by the Department of Health and Human Services, indicating a widespread and urgent need for federal assistance.
However, Haskins also acknowledged constraints on the potential benefits of federal childcare subsidies, including inadequate funding, overly strict eligibility criteria, and a disconnect between the government-determined affordability threshold and the current reality.