CHILD CARE · 5TH MOST EXPENSIVE OF 51

How much does child care cost in Rhode Island?

What care costs for a preschooler and for two children, county by county, and how it compares with what families here earn.

The short answer

Full-time care for a 4-year-old costs about $15,109 a year in the typical county in Rhode Island, or $1,259 a month, 1.9 times the $8,040 for the typical county nationally. Care for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old comes to about $25,823 a year. The cost of care for one preschooler is 12.0% of median family income in the typical county.

Affordability

Against what families earn.

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 Rhode Island's 5 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 21.0% of the total in the typical county.

Build a budget with your own child care cost, or see the rest of what Rhode Island costs.

Where it costs most

The county matters.

Care for a 4-year-old ranges from $14,920 to $16,010 across the 5 counties. Metro counties are priced at child care centers, other counties at home-based family child care.

Every county

All 5 counties.

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Bristol County	$15,109	$1,259	$25,823	11.0%
Kent County	$15,288	$1,274	$26,103	13.3%
Newport County	$16,010	$1,334	$27,375	12.0%
Providence County	$14,920	$1,243	$25,463	15.1%
Washington County	$15,103	$1,259	$25,818	11.8%

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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More about Rhode Island

Cost of living · Income tax · Child care costs

Metro areasProvidence, RI

Run the numbersTake-home pay in Rhode Island · What a salary is worth in Rhode Island · How much rent you can afford · What a car costs in Rhode Island

Where this comes from

Child care costs

Economic Policy Institute, Family Budget Calculator, 2026 edition, by county. EPI builds them mainly from the Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices.

What is priced

One child is a 4-year-old in full-time care. Two children add an 8-year-old in before- and after-school care for nine months and full-time care for two summer months.

Affordability

HHS's 7% of family income benchmark, from its 2016 Child Care and Development Fund rule. Counties count once each; figures are medians across them.