Pay · 39-9011
Childcare workers earn $34,980 a year at the midpoint
One of the largest occupations in the country — about 518,910 people — with a midpoint of $34,980 a year.
National figures for childcare workers, 39-9011, from the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
- Read the spread, not the middle. The median is the midpoint across everyone in the occupation, most of them years into the work. A beginner starts nearer the 10th to 25th percentile, which is why the spread is published alongside it.
- What the figure counts. The figure counts base pay plus tips, commissions and production bonuses. It leaves out the self-employed, unpaid family workers, private household workers, and the value of benefits or profit sharing.
- The annual figure is arithmetic. For hourly occupations the annual figure is the hourly rate times 2080 hours. It is a calculation, not observed earnings: part time is the norm in retail and food service.
- Where you live moves it more than your resume does. National figures. A state or metro area can sit far from the national number, and that gap is usually larger than any difference a resume makes.
- Not in these numbers. Growth and annual openings are not in this dataset. They come from the separate Employment Projections tables, where an opening is a modelled ten year average and not a posted vacancy.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025. Retrieved through the BLS Public Data API on 2026-08-13. bls.gov/oes “BLS.gov cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov.”
Childcare worker earnings, from starting pay to the top 10%
Pick the job, where you work and how long you have done it. The range comes from the published wage percentiles for that job.
The survey has no complete figures for that job — pick the closest title from the list.
An estimate from survey percentiles, not an offer. Employer, industry, shift and credentials move pay within and beyond this range. Full wage page for this job →
Examples
Resumes written for this kind of work.
Real sheets, filled in end to end — for this job and the ones beside it.
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Childcare worker pay rate, hourly to yearly
Starts at this job’s median. Change the rate or the hours; a full-time year is 40 hours for 52 weeks.
No. 773 of 788 by median pay
Better paid than 2% of the occupations in the survey.
- 771 Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks $35,070
- 772 Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials $35,060
- 773 Childcare workers $34,980
- 774 Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners $34,980
- 775 Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers $34,890
Writing a resume for childcare workers
Name the job in the builder and the duties, skills and credentials it is screened on are written in for you.
- Maintained a safe play environment.
- Observed and monitored children's play activities.
- Communicated with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues.
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. The owner of tiersi.com has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Childcare worker wages by state
The 42 states where the most people do this work, of 51 with a published figure: their medians range by 1.89 times. Figures are the 2025 survey.
| State | Median a year | Where most start | 10th to 90th | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $41,680 | $35,340 | $35,340 — $50,080 | 4,340 |
| Massachusetts | $40,900 | $34,130 | $34,130 — $49,790 | 13,140 |
| Colorado | $40,750 | $33,430 | $33,430 — $49,190 | 13,310 |
| California | $40,020 | $35,340 | $35,340 — $52,670 | 52,780 |
| Oregon | $38,650 | $32,580 | $32,580 — $46,450 | 5,240 |
| New York | $37,590 | $33,630 | $33,630 — $46,970 | 44,020 |
| New Hampshire | $37,080 | $27,850 | $27,850 — $44,500 | 2,820 |
| Connecticut | $36,660 | $34,940 | $34,940 — $44,760 | 12,020 |
| New Jersey | $36,390 | $32,220 | $32,220 — $44,800 | 25,070 |
| Maine | $36,350 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $46,020 | 4,990 |
| Maryland | $36,030 | $31,570 | $31,570 — $47,280 | 9,750 |
| New Mexico | $35,840 | $29,880 | $29,880 — $42,190 | 4,120 |
| Illinois | $35,830 | $31,200 | $31,200 — $44,980 | 23,900 |
| Minnesota | $35,520 | $28,560 | $28,560 — $44,880 | 11,570 |
| Arizona | $35,100 | $30,830 | $30,830 — $45,660 | 5,530 |
| Virginia | $34,330 | $28,150 | $28,150 — $44,100 | 13,930 |
| Florida | $34,210 | $27,960 | $27,960 — $44,730 | 21,760 |
| Wisconsin | $32,460 | $24,650 | $24,650 — $42,830 | 5,560 |
| Utah | $31,630 | $23,040 | $23,040 — $43,440 | 4,830 |
| Michigan | $30,970 | $27,210 | $27,210 — $39,340 | 14,010 |
| Missouri | $30,790 | $28,600 | $28,600 — $41,600 | 12,430 |
| Nebraska | $30,740 | $28,130 | $28,130 — $36,660 | 9,390 |
| North Dakota | $30,290 | $23,310 | $23,310 — $37,070 | 4,030 |
| Indiana | $30,180 | $23,880 | $23,880 — $38,250 | 8,280 |
| Idaho | $30,160 | $17,550 | $17,550 — $42,150 | 4,430 |
| Pennsylvania | $30,140 | $22,710 | $22,710 — $39,290 | 13,000 |
| Nevada | $29,740 | $27,520 | $27,520 — $38,560 | 3,740 |
| Ohio | $29,680 | $23,800 | $23,800 — $40,390 | 11,300 |
| Tennessee | $29,660 | $21,730 | $21,730 — $38,050 | 13,650 |
| South Carolina | $29,650 | $22,020 | $22,020 — $37,720 | 10,660 |
| Kansas | $29,240 | $22,810 | $22,810 — $37,280 | 7,430 |
| North Carolina | $29,140 | $22,840 | $22,840 — $40,990 | 12,550 |
| Kentucky | $28,920 | $21,860 | $21,860 — $39,550 | 5,820 |
| Texas | $28,570 | $21,750 | $21,750 — $37,290 | 34,160 |
| Arkansas | $28,450 | $23,940 | $23,940 — $33,640 | 5,400 |
| Iowa | $28,420 | $21,950 | $21,950 — $37,220 | 6,020 |
| Georgia | $28,020 | $22,170 | $22,170 — $36,980 | 21,040 |
| South Dakota | $27,940 | $26,500 | $26,500 — $37,840 | 2,370 |
| Oklahoma | $27,730 | $22,040 | $22,040 — $38,580 | 7,590 |
| Louisiana | $22,900 | $18,650 | $18,650 — $33,610 | 8,000 |
| Alabama | $22,720 | $18,680 | $18,680 — $32,330 | 4,580 |
| Mississippi | $22,050 | $18,230 | $18,230 — $33,600 | 5,420 |
Questions people ask most
What is a childcare worker’s yearly income?
A childcare worker makes a median of $34,980 a year (2025 survey). The middle half earn between $29,360 and $38,570.
What is a childcare worker’s hourly pay rate?
The median pay rate is $16.82 an hour; the average is $35,030 a year.
What is the starting pay for a childcare worker?
Starting pay is usually near the 25th percentile, $29,360 a year, and sometimes as low as the 10th, $24,260.
Which state pays childcare workers the most?
District of Columbia, with a median of $47,340 a year.
How many people work as childcare workers?
About 518,910 in the United States — number 773 of 788 occupations by median pay.
Jobs that pay about the same
Median pay within $90 of what childcare workers earn — $34,980 a year — but not always the same spread.
- Same median Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners $34,980median a year 10th percentile: $22,090 90th percentile: $48,270
- $80 more Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials $35,060median a year 10th percentile: $27,180 90th percentile: $43,050
- $90 less Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers $34,890median a year 10th percentile: $27,440 90th percentile: $43,190