Childcare Costs in Missouri

In Missouri, the typical full-time price for infant care at a childcare center is $679 a month ($8,147 a year), based on the federal government's childcare price database (2023 estimates). That is about 11% below the national median of $765 a month. Here is the full picture for Missouri by age and care type.

Median infant care at a center, Missouri

$679/month

$8,147 a year. National median: $765/month. Federal data, 2023 estimates.

Median childcare prices in Missouri

Age	Center / year	Center / month	Home-based / year	Home-based / month
Infant	$8,147	$679	$6,065	$505
Toddler	$6,329	$527	$6,065	$505
Preschool	$6,329	$527	$6,065	$505

Medians across Missouri's 115 counties in the federal database. Home-based means a licensed family childcare home. Monthly is the annual price divided by 12.

Run your numbers with Missouri prices

Child's age group

Care type

Monthly price per child ($)

Preset to Missouri's median. Replace it with a real quote any time.

Children in paid care

Your estimated childcare bill

$679

per month, $8,147 a year, for 1 child. That is about 14.3% of the typical Missouri family income ($56,895 a year).

Want the full comparison?

Centers vs a nanny vs after-school care, with the tax breaks included, in our childcare cost calculator. Then fold the winner into your family budget planner.

How Missouri compares

At $679 a month for infant care at a center, Missouri sits about 11% below the national median. For a typical Missouri family earning $56,895 a year, that one bill is about 14.3% of gross income, before any tax breaks, and the federal affordability benchmark is 7%. Inside the state, prices run from $1,697 a year in Mercer County to $16,767 in St. Louis County for the same infant center care, which is why where you live in Missouri matters as much as the state line.

Example: Two children in Missouri, an infant and a preschooler, both at a center: $679 + $527 = $1,206 a month, $14,476 a year at median prices. A sibling discount of 10% on the second child would save about $633 a year.

New to the options? Read childcare costs explained and our story on the real cost of childcare.

Frequently asked questions

How much does childcare cost in Missouri?

The median price of full-time infant care at a childcare center in Missouri is $679 a month ($8,147 a year) in the federal data (2023 estimates). Home-based infant care runs $505 a month, and preschool at a center is $527 a month.

Why do prices vary so much inside Missouri?

These are medians across Missouri's 115 counties in the federal database. For infant care at a center, the priciest county in the data is St. Louis County at $16,767 a year and the least pricey is Mercer County at $1,697. City care almost always costs more than rural care.

How current are these figures?

They are the US Department of Labor's 2023 estimated prices, the latest federal childcare price release, built from the National Database of Childcare Prices. Prices have likely risen since, so use them as a solid floor when you budget and compare quotes, not as a quote themselves.

How can I bring the bill down?

Compare center and home-based prices above, ask about sibling discounts and part-week schedules, and claim every tax break: the Child and Dependent Care Credit and a Dependent Care FSA can return real money. Our childcare cost calculator models centers, nannies and after-school care side by side.

Keep exploring

Neighboring states in the alphabet: Mississippi · Montana

All states: childcare costs by state · Tools: Childcare cost calculator · Family budget planner

Source: US Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP), county price data table, 2023 estimated prices, retrieved 2026-10-13. State figures are medians of the state's county median prices; monthly figures are the annual price divided by 12. Prices have likely risen since 2023, so treat these as a well-documented floor, not a quote.