What does daycare cost in Northeast Ohio in 2026?

Ohio's survey reports prices for three groups of counties, and Cuyahoga, Summit and Geauga are all in the highest-price group, along with other urban and suburban counties. Full-time center care in that group had a median price of $258 to $325 a week in 2024, depending on your child's age. The figures come from the 2024 Ohio Early Care and Education Market Rate Survey. The Ohio Department of Children and Youth (DCY) approved the report in March 2025.

The survey sorts Ohio's 88 counties into three groups with similar prices. Cuyahoga, Summit and Geauga are all in the highest-priced group, along with Lake, Lorain, Medina and Portage counties.

The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile. The survey weights each program's rates by its capacity, so larger programs count more.

Licensed Type B family child care homes, which care for up to six children at a time, charged less (2024 market rate survey). Their medians in the same county group were $225 a week for infants, $215 for toddlers and $200 for preschoolers.

How prices have changed

The U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices has 2022 figures for all three counties. Its center medians were $295 a week for infants, $265 for toddlers and $232 for preschoolers. The 2024 survey medians are about 10% to 11% higher.

The three counties have identical figures in that database. That matches how Ohio reports its survey, by county group, and all three were in the top group in 2022 as well.

Prices in this county group run above the statewide figures. In the same 2024 survey, Ohio's statewide center medians were $300 a week for infants, $275 for toddlers and $242.66 for preschoolers.

Child Care Aware of America, a national nonprofit, uses its own method and reports lower statewide averages for 2024. They come from its Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply report.

The same fact sheet says center infant care takes 11% of an Ohio married couple's median income ($124,688) and 40% of a single-parent family's ($34,414). It compares that with a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services benchmark of 7% of income or less.

In the Department of Labor database, a year of center infant care in 2022 cost $15,340 ($295 × 52). That equaled about 18% of median family income in Cuyahoga County ($83,288), 17% in Summit County ($89,685) and 13% in Geauga County ($116,764).

Staffing is the main reason. Ohio requires far more adults per child for babies than for preschoolers, so each caregiver's pay is split among fewer families (rule 5180:2-12-18).

A room of 12 young infants needs at least two caregivers, while one teacher can lead 12 three-year-olds (Appendix A to the ratio rule). In the 2024 survey, the median infant price in this county group was $67 a week higher than the preschool median ($325 versus $258).

For more on how these rules work, see Ohio daycare ratios and group sizes, explained.

What tuition covers varies from one program to the next, so line up quotes item by item. Ohio's 2024 survey asked programs whether they charge these fees on top of tuition:

• Field trip or event fees
• Food or meal fees
• Craft or material fees
• Transportation fees
• Late pick-up fees
• Late payment fees or interest
• Bank, credit card or overdraft fees
• Wait list fees

Also ask about one-time costs, such as a registration fee or a deposit. Ask which of diapers, wipes, formula, meals and snacks are included and which you send from home.

Some programs offer sibling discounts, which can lower weekly fees or waive a registration fee. Others offer military discounts or scholarships, according to Childcare.gov.

Put every quote on the same footing: a weekly price, for the same hours, with the same things included.

• Convert monthly prices to weekly: multiply by 12, then divide by 52. A $1,400 monthly rate is $323.08 a week ($1,400 × 12 ÷ 52).
• Ask which hours the full-time rate covers and what late pick-up costs.
• Compare part-time rates by the day. In the 2024 survey, the median part-time infant rate at centers in this county group was $220.69 a week, about 68% of the full-time rate.
• Ask whether you pay for holidays, weather closures, sick days and your own vacation weeks, and get the program's closure calendar.
• Get every fee in writing, including registration, supplies, meals, field trips and late payments.
• Ask for the written contract and parent handbook before you enroll, as Child Care Aware of America's checklist suggests.
• Look up each program's license, Step Up To Quality rating and inspection results on Ohio Child Care Search.

For questions to ask beyond price, see How to choose a daycare: the questions to ask on a tour.

Several state programs and tax breaks can cut the cost, and some can be used together. For example, PFCC or the voucher can be combined with Ohio's preschool grant at a different program (DCY Procedure Letter 39).

• Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC): a family of three can start with income up to $3,302 a month from October 1, 2026 (DCY Procedure Letter 45). That is 145% of poverty, and you pay a weekly co-pay based on income. See How to get help paying for childcare in Ohio.
• Child Care Choice Voucher: for families above 145% and up to 200% of poverty ($4,554 a month for three). It pays a center $900 a month for an infant, and you pay the rest (DCY Procedure Letter 36).
• Preschool programs: Ohio's Early Childhood Education grant serves 3- to 5-year-olds not yet eligible for kindergarten in families at or below 200% of poverty (rule 5180:6-2-01). Head Start and Early Head Start are free for eligible families with low income (Childcare.gov).
• Federal child and dependent care credit: for 2026, it equals 20% to 50% of your care costs (26 U.S.C. 21). It counts up to $3,000 of costs for one child or $6,000 for two or more. See Childcare tax credits and dependent care FSAs in 2026.
• Dependent care FSA: if your employer offers one, you can pay up to $7,500 of 2026 care costs with pay that isn't taxed (IRS Publication 15-B). Each FSA dollar reduces the costs you can count for the federal credit.
• Ohio's child and dependent care credit: it is worth 25% of the federal credit when modified adjusted gross income is under $40,000 (Ohio Revised Code 5747.054). Under $20,000, it equals the full federal credit.
• Employer help: some employers offer on-site child care, and some providers give discounts to a local employer's staff (Childcare.gov).
• Ohio's Child Care Cred pilot: it split costs 40% employee, 40% employer and 20% state for selected employees earning 200% to 400% of poverty. Its first round ran from July 2025 through June 2026, so ask your employer whether a new round is open (DCY Memo 25-065).