Childcare Worker Salary by State (BLS Wage Data)

How much daycare workers make in each state

An approximate, sourced summary per state. Read the full wage detail and citation in the reference table below, or open a state's page for its complete childcare requirements.

Frequently asked questions about childcare worker pay

How much do daycare workers make?

Childcare workers (BLS occupation code 39-9011) earned a national median wage of about $15.41 per hour — roughly $32,050 per year at full time — as of the BLS May 2024 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Pay varies widely by state, employer, setting, and experience: state medians in the table below run from the low teens to roughly $18 per hour. These are approximate market figures, not a guaranteed salary, so confirm current pay with the Bureau of Labor Statistics or your state labor agency before relying on a number.

Which state pays childcare workers the most?

Higher-cost states such as Hawaii, Alaska, and several Northeast states tend to report the highest childcare worker wages — often around $17 to $18 per hour at the median — while lower-cost states in the South commonly report medians in the low-to-mid teens. Because the figures below come from different state and federal survey vintages (mostly 2022-2024) and round to the dollar, treat cross-state comparisons as approximate and verify the current figure for any state you care about.

What is the difference between the median and mean childcare worker wage?

The median is the middle wage — half of childcare workers earn more and half earn less — and it is usually the better number for answering 'what does a typical worker make.' The mean (average) is pulled higher by the best-paid workers, so it often reads a little above the median. Where a state's source publishes both, the entries below give both; where only one was confirmed against the source, only that one is shown.

Are these childcare worker salaries current?

They are the most recent figures we could confirm against each source, but they are not real-time. Most come from BLS OES/OEWS estimates with May 2022 through May 2024 reference dates, plus some state labor-department republications. Wages change every year, and BLS revises its estimates annually, so always verify the current wage with BLS or your state labor agency before quoting it in a budget, a job posting, or a pay decision.

Where does this childcare worker wage data come from?

Each figure is drawn from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES/OEWS) program for Childcare Workers, SOC 39-9011 — sometimes by way of a state labor department's republication of the same survey, or O*NET OnLine, where BLS blocked direct retrieval. Every state entry below names its source and date. A few states could not be confirmed against the source and are labeled honestly rather than guessed.