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 $5,931 a year in the typical county in Tennessee, or $494 a month, 26.2% less than the $8,040 for the typical county nationally. Care for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old comes to about $12,015 a year. The cost of care for one preschooler is 9.3% 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, 2 of Tennessee's 95 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 13.6% of the total in the typical county.
Build a budget with your own child care cost, or see the rest of what Tennessee costs.
Care for a 4-year-old costs most in Anderson County ($8,903), Blount County ($8,903) and Bradley County ($8,903), and least in Decatur County ($5,419), White County ($5,931) and Weakley County ($5,931). Metro counties are priced at child care centers, other counties at home-based family child care.
| Anderson County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 10.7% |
| Bedford County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.2% |
| Benton County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.7% |
| Bledsoe County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.9% |
| Blount County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.9% |
| Bradley County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 11.2% |
| Campbell County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 10.0% |
| Cannon County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.1% |
| Carroll County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.1% |
| Carter County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 10.5% |
| Cheatham County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.3% |
| Chester County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.8% |
| Claiborne County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.3% |
| Clay County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.6% |
| Cocke County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 10.9% |
| Coffee County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.4% |
| Crockett County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.0% |
| Cumberland County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.5% |
| Davidson County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.3% |
| Decatur County | $5,419 | $452 | $11,604 | 8.7% |
| DeKalb County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.3% |
| Dickson County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 7.9% |
| Dyer County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.8% |
| Fayette County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 8.8% |
| Fentress County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 10.4% |
| Franklin County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 7.7% |
| Gibson County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.4% |
| Giles County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 7.2% |
| Grainger County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 10.1% |
| Greene County | $7,803 | $650 | $14,190 | 10.9% |
| Grundy County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 11.2% |
| Hamblen County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.6% |
| Hamilton County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.3% |
| Hancock County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 12.3% |
| Hardeman County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.7% |
| Hardin County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 10.5% |
| Hawkins County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 10.0% |
| Haywood County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.7% |
| Henderson County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.3% |
| Henry County | $7,803 | $650 | $14,190 | 11.9% |
| Hickman County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,420 | 8.8% |
| Houston County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,420 | 8.3% |
| Humphreys County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,420 | 7.8% |
| Jackson County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,420 | 10.0% |
| Jefferson County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 8.6% |
| Johnson County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,420 | 8.9% |
| Knox County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.4% |
| Lake County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 15.0% |
| Lauderdale County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.9% |
| Lawrence County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.7% |
| Lewis County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.4% |
| Lincoln County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 7.6% |
| Loudon County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.5% |
| Macon County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.3% |
| Madison County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 11.7% |
| Marion County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.9% |
| Marshall County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 6.7% |
| Maury County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 10.1% |
| McMinn County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.2% |
| McNairy County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.3% |
| Meigs County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.2% |
| Monroe County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.0% |
| Montgomery County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 10.3% |
| Moore County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 7.1% |
| Morgan County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.0% |
| Obion County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.8% |
| Overton County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.7% |
| Perry County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.6% |
| Pickett County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.4% |
| Polk County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 8.6% |
| Putnam County | $7,803 | $650 | $14,190 | 10.5% |
| Rhea County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.3% |
| Roane County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 8.0% |
| Robertson County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.8% |
| Rutherford County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 9.2% |
| Scott County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 11.1% |
| Sequatchie County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 10.8% |
| Sevier County | $7,803 | $650 | $14,190 | 10.0% |
| Shelby County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 11.0% |
| Smith County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 8.5% |
| Stewart County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 8.1% |
| Sullivan County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 11.9% |
| Sumner County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 8.6% |
| Tipton County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 7.9% |
| Trousdale County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 8.1% |
| Unicoi County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 10.6% |
| Union County | $6,692 | $558 | $9,733 | 9.4% |
| Van Buren County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.6% |
| Warren County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.1% |
| Washington County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 10.9% |
| Wayne County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.6% |
| Weakley County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 9.0% |
| White County | $5,931 | $494 | $12,015 | 8.7% |
| Williamson County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 5.8% |
| Wilson County | $8,903 | $742 | $13,546 | 8.1% |
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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