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 $8,347 a year in the typical county in South Carolina, or $696 a month, 3.8% more than the $8,040 for the typical county nationally. Care for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old comes to about $17,033 a year. The cost of care for one preschooler is 12.5% 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 South Carolina's 46 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 18.2% of the total in the typical county.
Build a budget with your own child care cost, or see the rest of what South Carolina costs.
Care for a 4-year-old costs most in Charleston County ($11,190), Greenville County ($11,190) and Richland County ($11,190), and least in Laurens County ($7,363), Kershaw County ($7,363) and Jasper County ($7,363). Metro counties are priced at child care centers, other counties at home-based family child care.
| Abbeville County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 12.5% |
| Aiken County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 13.3% |
| Allendale County | $7,672 | $639 | $16,155 | 14.7% |
| Anderson County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 14.1% |
| Bamberg County | $7,672 | $639 | $16,155 | 12.5% |
| Barnwell County | $7,739 | $645 | $16,289 | 13.6% |
| Beaufort County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 10.9% |
| Berkeley County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 11.6% |
| Calhoun County | $7,739 | $645 | $15,883 | 10.1% |
| Charleston County | $11,190 | $933 | $19,651 | 9.9% |
| Cherokee County | $7,672 | $639 | $16,155 | 11.5% |
| Chester County | $7,739 | $645 | $15,883 | 12.6% |
| Chesterfield County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 14.0% |
| Clarendon County | $7,739 | $645 | $15,883 | 11.7% |
| Colleton County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 13.6% |
| Darlington County | $7,363 | $614 | $15,131 | 11.7% |
| Dillon County | $8,280 | $690 | $16,966 | 17.0% |
| Dorchester County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 11.8% |
| Edgefield County | $7,739 | $645 | $15,883 | 9.2% |
| Fairfield County | $7,739 | $645 | $15,883 | 11.9% |
| Florence County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 14.3% |
| Georgetown County | $8,714 | $726 | $14,360 | 10.9% |
| Greenville County | $11,190 | $933 | $19,651 | 12.2% |
| Greenwood County | $8,714 | $726 | $14,360 | 12.5% |
| Hampton County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 14.9% |
| Horry County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 14.3% |
| Jasper County | $7,363 | $614 | $15,131 | 10.1% |
| Kershaw County | $7,363 | $614 | $15,131 | 9.5% |
| Lancaster County | $9,896 | $825 | $20,202 | 10.9% |
| Laurens County | $7,363 | $614 | $15,131 | 10.4% |
| Lee County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 13.8% |
| Lexington County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 12.2% |
| Marion County | $7,672 | $639 | $16,155 | 16.2% |
| Marlboro County | $7,672 | $639 | $16,155 | 15.1% |
| McCormick County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 10.5% |
| Newberry County | $8,280 | $690 | $16,966 | 11.2% |
| Oconee County | $8,280 | $690 | $16,966 | 10.9% |
| Orangeburg County | $8,280 | $690 | $16,966 | 14.6% |
| Pickens County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 14.0% |
| Richland County | $11,190 | $933 | $19,651 | 13.3% |
| Saluda County | $7,739 | $645 | $15,883 | 11.6% |
| Spartanburg County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 14.2% |
| Sumter County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 15.8% |
| Union County | $8,280 | $690 | $16,966 | 14.2% |
| Williamsburg County | $8,347 | $696 | $17,100 | 14.8% |
| York County | $11,018 | $918 | $19,392 | 10.3% |
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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