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 $18,011 a year in the typical county in New Jersey, or $1,501 a month, 2.2 times the $8,040 for the typical county nationally. Care for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old comes to about $26,847 a year. The cost of care for one preschooler is 14.6% 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, none of New Jersey's 21 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 19.7% of the total in the typical county.
Build a budget with your own child care cost, or see the rest of what New Jersey costs.
Care for a 4-year-old costs most in Morris County ($19,464), Somerset County ($19,411) and Hudson County ($18,959), and least in Salem County ($16,665), Camden County ($16,753) and Cumberland County ($16,837). Metro counties are priced at child care centers, other counties at home-based family child care.
| Atlantic County | $16,915 | $1,410 | $25,037 | 17.9% |
| Bergen County | $18,863 | $1,572 | $27,513 | 12.5% |
| Burlington County | $18,593 | $1,549 | $27,737 | 14.6% |
| Camden County | $16,753 | $1,396 | $24,511 | 15.6% |
| Cape May County | $17,108 | $1,426 | $25,449 | 16.1% |
| Cumberland County | $16,837 | $1,403 | $24,924 | 22.0% |
| Essex County | $17,483 | $1,457 | $26,199 | 17.3% |
| Gloucester County | $17,902 | $1,492 | $26,847 | 14.0% |
| Hudson County | $18,959 | $1,580 | $28,195 | 19.1% |
| Hunterdon County | $18,356 | $1,530 | $26,967 | 11.0% |
| Mercer County | $17,427 | $1,452 | $26,449 | 14.0% |
| Middlesex County | $18,817 | $1,568 | $27,716 | 14.4% |
| Monmouth County | $18,687 | $1,557 | $27,382 | 12.0% |
| Morris County | $19,464 | $1,622 | $28,521 | 11.6% |
| Ocean County | $18,432 | $1,536 | $27,389 | 16.9% |
| Passaic County | $18,237 | $1,520 | $27,161 | 18.1% |
| Salem County | $16,665 | $1,389 | $24,758 | 17.2% |
| Somerset County | $19,411 | $1,618 | $28,630 | 11.6% |
| Sussex County | $17,969 | $1,497 | $26,699 | 13.4% |
| Union County | $18,011 | $1,501 | $26,522 | 15.0% |
| Warren County | $16,895 | $1,408 | $25,275 | 14.2% |
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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