Montana Families Face High Child Care Costs Compared To Income

Child care costs in Montana rank among the highest in the region when measured against household income, according to a new analysis from WalletHub.

Source: WalletHub

Montana places 7th nationwide for married couples, with families spending about 9.57% of their income on family-based care and 12.59% on center-based care. That ranking puts Montana well above neighboring states, including North Dakota at 40th, South Dakota at 50th and Idaho at 44th. Wyoming ranks closer to the middle at 23rd.

For single parents, Montana ranks 16th, with child care costs consuming between roughly 28% and 37% of annual income. That is still higher than North Dakota, which ranks 39th, and South Dakota, which ranks last at 51st, indicating the lowest relative costs in the country.

The WalletHub study compared child care expenses nationwide as a share of median household income, reflecting the financial strain on working families.

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“It costs a lot of money to take care of a child’s needs, and many parents are left with the dilemma of whether to forgo one salary to do their own child care for the first few years or to shell out a significant chunk of their income for child care services,” said Chip Lupo, an analyst with WalletHub. “Married parents who both work can expect to spend as much as 14% of what they earn on child care, while single parents’ costs can amount to an astounding 59%.”

States With the Highest & Lowest Cost of Child Care

Overall Rank*	State	Total Score	Cost of Family-Based Child Care	Cost of Center-Based Child Care
1	District of Columbia	100.00	51.16%	58.72%
2	Massachusetts	64.62	35.11%	50.01%
3	New York	63.48	38.42%	45.51%
4	Washington	52.40	34.89%	41.14%
5	California	50.52	32.72%	42.13%
6	Oregon	49.70	34.36%	39.71%
7	Illinois	49.67	28.77%	45.85%
8	Nebraska	48.27	32.23%	40.99%
9	Wisconsin	45.04	30.31%	40.71%
10	Rhode Island	44.15	31.78%	38.41%
11	New Mexico	43.33	35.32%	33.90%
12	Maryland	41.76	28.51%	40.23%
13	Connecticut	40.24	28.15%	39.50%
14	Kentucky	39.59	29.81%	37.18%
15	New Jersey	38.20	25.11%	41.33%
16	Montana	37.57	28.35%	37.29%
17	Ohio	37.02	28.69%	36.50%
18	Indiana	36.95	24.63%	40.93%
19	Vermont	35.92	26.33%	38.28%
20	Colorado	34.87	27.40%	36.33%
21	Virginia	34.44	28.28%	35.03%
22	Michigan	34.39	27.33%	36.04%
23	Maine	34.23	27.25%	36.01%
24	Pennsylvania	34.11	27.06%	36.13%
25	West Virginia	32.88	27.85%	34.34%
26	Louisiana	32.87	27.13%	35.13%
27	Hawaii	31.28	22.91%	38.59%
28	Tennessee	29.44	25.91%	33.91%
29	Wyoming	28.91	27.34%	31.95%
30	Minnesota	26.45	19.93%	38.27%
31	North Carolina	26.42	26.10%	31.44%
32	Oklahoma	26.32	27.09%	30.28%
33	Missouri	22.72	24.08%	30.92%
34	Arizona	22.71	23.98%	31.02%
35	Texas	22.15	25.90%	28.48%
36	Delaware	20.77	22.20%	31.54%
37	Florida	19.10	24.53%	27.72%
38	Alabama	18.66	24.58%	27.34%
39	North Dakota	18.21	23.69%	27.98%
40	New Hampshire	17.91	22.69%	28.86%
41	Iowa	17.35	21.68%	29.55%
42	Arkansas	16.63	23.79%	26.70%
43	Kansas	16.49	19.61%	31.20%
44	South Carolina	15.67	21.40%	28.61%
45	Nevada	14.01	21.73%	27.01%
46	Georgia	11.97	20.70%	26.62%
47	Mississippi	10.90	20.95%	25.55%
48	Utah	7.90	19.49%	24.92%
49	Idaho	5.66	18.13%	24.75%
50	Alaska	1.66	18.45%	21.42%
51	South Dakota	0.31	17.32%	21.64%