What care costs for a preschooler and for two children, county by county, and how it compares with what families here earn.
Full-time care for a 4-year-old costs about $6,996 a year in the typical county in Nebraska, or $583 a month, 13.0% less than the $8,040 for the typical county nationally. Care for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old comes to about $14,144 a year. The cost of care for one preschooler is 8.6% of median family income in the typical county.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services counts child care as affordable when it takes no more than 7% of family income. For one 4-year-old, 4 of Nebraska's 93 counties meet that at the median family income; nationally, 259 of 3,131 counties do. In the budget EPI draws up for two parents and two children, child care is 14.1% of the total in the typical county. In 1 county, care for one preschooler costs more than the family's housing.
Build a budget with your own child care cost, or see the rest of what Nebraska costs.
Care for a 4-year-old costs most in Dakota County ($12,471), Douglas County ($12,471) and Lancaster County ($12,471), and least in York County ($6,996), Wheeler County ($6,996) and Webster County ($6,996). Metro counties are priced at child care centers, other counties at home-based family child care.
| Adams County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.3% |
| Antelope County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.1% |
| Arthur County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.2% |
| Banner County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Blaine County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 11.5% |
| Boone County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.0% |
| Box Butte County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.3% |
| Boyd County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.0% |
| Brown County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 10.4% |
| Buffalo County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.2% |
| Burt County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.8% |
| Butler County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 6.9% |
| Cass County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 9.3% |
| Cedar County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.3% |
| Chase County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.9% |
| Cherry County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.0% |
| Cheyenne County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.9% |
| Clay County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.8% |
| Colfax County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.7% |
| Cuming County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.9% |
| Custer County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Dakota County | $12,471 | $1,039 | $23,243 | 14.4% |
| Dawes County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.3% |
| Dawson County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.1% |
| Deuel County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.2% |
| Dixon County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 10.8% |
| Dodge County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.8% |
| Douglas County | $12,471 | $1,039 | $23,243 | 11.8% |
| Dundy County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.8% |
| Fillmore County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.0% |
| Franklin County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.1% |
| Frontier County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Furnas County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.2% |
| Gage County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.9% |
| Garden County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 10.4% |
| Garfield County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.5% |
| Gosper County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.0% |
| Grant County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.8% |
| Greeley County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.3% |
| Hall County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 12.0% |
| Hamilton County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 6.8% |
| Harlan County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.5% |
| Hayes County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.5% |
| Hitchcock County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 10.1% |
| Holt County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Hooker County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 6.8% |
| Howard County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 10.9% |
| Jefferson County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.9% |
| Johnson County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.2% |
| Kearney County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.1% |
| Keith County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.0% |
| Keya Paha County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 10.0% |
| Kimball County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.8% |
| Knox County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.4% |
| Lancaster County | $12,471 | $1,039 | $23,243 | 12.6% |
| Lincoln County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.5% |
| Logan County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.3% |
| Loup County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.0% |
| Madison County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.2% |
| McPherson County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.8% |
| Merrick County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 11.9% |
| Morrill County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.5% |
| Nance County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Nemaha County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Nuckolls County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.2% |
| Otoe County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 6.6% |
| Pawnee County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.7% |
| Perkins County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.2% |
| Phelps County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.7% |
| Pierce County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.2% |
| Platte County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.5% |
| Polk County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.5% |
| Red Willow County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.9% |
| Richardson County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.8% |
| Rock County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.7% |
| Saline County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.9% |
| Sarpy County | $12,471 | $1,039 | $23,243 | 10.4% |
| Saunders County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 9.0% |
| Scotts Bluff County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.5% |
| Seward County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 9.4% |
| Sheridan County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 10.0% |
| Sherman County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 10.0% |
| Sioux County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.1% |
| Stanton County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.5% |
| Thayer County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.6% |
| Thomas County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.3% |
| Thurston County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.9% |
| Valley County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.3% |
| Washington County | $9,885 | $824 | $19,467 | 8.4% |
| Wayne County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.4% |
| Webster County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 8.9% |
| Wheeler County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 9.0% |
| York County | $6,996 | $583 | $14,144 | 7.9% |
Click a column to sort it. The share compares care for one 4-year-old with the county's median family income. A dash means EPI publishes no income figure for that county.
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