The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deems child care "affordable" if it requires 7% or less of a person's income. By that measure, not a single U.S. state offers affordable child care, a recent analysis from GoBankingRates found.
The personal finance company analyzed the cost of child care for infants, toddlers and 4-year-olds in all 50 states, as reported by the ChildCareAware Child Care Data Center. These figures were compared to the state's median family income, per the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
These are the 10 most and least affordable states for child care, according to the report:
Most affordable states:
South Dakota — 8.81% of median family income required for center-based child care
Mississippi — 9.8%
North Dakota — 9.88%
Kentucky — 10.5%
Utah — 10.52%
Wyoming — 10.71%
Georgia — 11.15%
New Hampshire — 11.51%
Missouri — 11.54%
Maryland — 12.18%
Least affordable states:
Massachusetts — 17.24%
New York — 16.36%
California — 16.25%
Washington — 15.85%
Michigan — 15.7%
New Mexico — 15.66%
Rhode Island — 14.75%
Nevada — 14.3%
North Carolina — 14.1%
New Jersey — 13.37%