Childcare at $1,230 a Month: What a Second Income Is Actually Worth in 2026
2026-09-18
Short answer: Full-time infant centre care runs about $1,230 a month in 2026, or $14,760 a year. A $48,000 second salary nets roughly $37,440 after tax; subtract care, commuting at the 2026 IRS rate and work costs and about $16,085 is left — around $7.15 for each of the 2,250 hours the job consumes. That figure is real, and it is also the wrong number to decide on alone.
The figure
Full-time infant care at a centre averages about 1,230 a month in 2026** — **14,760 a year. Toddler care is a little lower, and preschool-age care lower again, at roughly $13,000 a year. The spread between states is wide enough that a national figure is a starting point rather than an answer.
For a household with one child in full-time care, that is the single largest recurring bill most of them will have outside housing.
The arithmetic
net value = (gross salary − tax) − childcare − commuting − work costs
net hourly = net value ÷ (paid hours + commuting hours)Worked example — a second earner on $48,000, one infant in full-time centre care, a 24-mile round-trip commute 230 days a year:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $48,000 |
| Less tax at a 22% effective rate | −$10,560 |
| Net pay | $37,440 |
| Less infant centre care | −$14,760 |
| Less commuting, 5,520 miles at the 2026 second-half IRS rate of 76¢ | −$4,195 |
| Less work-related costs (meals, clothing, incidentals) | −$2,400 |
| Net contribution to the household | $16,085 |
Hours consumed: 2,000 paid plus roughly 250 commuting = 2,250.
$16,085 ÷ 2,250 = $7.15 per hourA 48,000 job nets about 7.15 an hour in the year a child is in full-time infant care.
Why that number is true and still not the decision
Every term above is real, and the conclusion people reach from it — that the job is barely worth doing — usually is not. Three things sit outside a one-year calculation:
Childcare ends. Salary does not. Full-time paid care typically runs about five years per child. Salary, raises, retirement contributions and employer benefits continue for decades. The year that nets $16,085 is buying position in years 6 through 35.
The re-entry penalty is large and delayed. Returning after a multi-year break usually means returning at a lower salary than the one you left, and on a lower trajectory. That cost does not appear in any year’s budget, which is exactly why it gets left out.
Retirement contributions are matched money. An employer pension or 401(k) match is part of the second income and does not show in take-home pay. Leaving the job forfeits it.
What would reverse the conclusion
- Credits and pre-tax accounts. A dependent-care assistance account and the federal child and dependent care credit both cut net care cost. Run them before concluding; on this example they can move the hourly figure by a meaningful margin.
- Two children in care. A second child in full-time care can more than double the care line while the salary stays flat. This is where the arithmetic genuinely does turn negative for many households, and it is usually temporary.
- Remote or hybrid work. Removing the commute takes
4,195 and 250 hours out of the example — worth about2.20 an hour on its own. - Cheaper care that is actually available. Family care, a nanny share, or an employer-subsidised place changes the largest line. The constraint is usually availability rather than price.
Run your own numbers in the budget builder →