Reliable data about the child care sector 

Our Milestones’ staff collect on-the-ground data and first-hand experiences from families and direct service professionals. We also analyze data from other sources to ensure it is reliable and unbiased. Our research staff has generated or vetted the following information on child care and early learning.

Child Care Data Source Book 2025

Most states in the US continue to use the traditional Market Rate Survey to estimate child care costs within their states. Colorado, however, along with a handful of other states, recently opted to use an alternative cost estimation methodology to calculate child care costs. As a result, it is difficult to compare Colorado’s child care costs with those in other states. The last Market Rate Survey for Colorado was conducted in 2022, and the results are basis for the most recent national level comparisons of child care costs across states.

Image description: Percent of Median Household Income for Center-Based Care (Infant & Toddler) across Colorado. Source: The Bell Policy Center Presents Affordability of Care in Colorado

Link to interactive map: https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/buTcY/4/

Child Care in Colorado: Data Essentials

How Do Federal Supports Impact Child Care Providers in Colorado?

Early Milestones Colorado surveyed licensed child care providers within Colorado in February and March 2025 to learn how federal supports impact their child care programs. You can read the brief here and view the slides here.

How many child care providers in Colorado get federal funding?

  • 2 in 3 providers get some federal funding
  • 1 in 3 providers get federal funding for multiple programs
Two-Page Brief

Other Publications

Bearing the Cost of Early Care and Education in Colorado: An Economic Analysis

The early care and education sector is a key driver for Colorado’s economy.

Read now

The Colorado Child Care Challenge: Capacity for Infants & Toddler

Colorado’s infant-toddler population is growing and demand for care already exceeds supply.

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Economic Mobility Benefits Children

In Colorado, 14% of children under 3 with one working parent are living in poverty.

Read now

Still Struggling: Colorado Families’ Views on Child Care and Hopes for Universal Preschool.

Families don’t have the child care they need.

Read Now

What We're Hearing

“We must have this funding to survive. Without it, we would have to close our doors due to the increased overhead and wages, which do not meet the cost of living for our staff.”
Provider, 2025 Child Care Provider Survey (Early Milestones Colorado)
2025 Child Care Provider Survey

“They have a wait list that’s over a year long. And so right now, she comes to work with me, which I’m grateful to have a boss that allows that, but it’s also super stressful to work with an infant by my side.”

Aurora mother of two, Building an Equitable Early Care and Learning System in Colorado: Case Studies (Early Milestones Colorado)
An Equitable Early Care System

“…a family in Colorado with an infant and a 4-year-old would spend on average 37.9% of their household income on child care, topping what most spend on a mortgage. That would make child care the #1 household expense, which has driven many women out of the workforce, especially mothers.”

Kelly Caufield, Common Sense Institute, $2.7 Billion: The Growing, Annual Cost of the Infant-Toddler Child Care Crisis in Colorado (Council for a Strong America)
Cost of Infant-Toddler Care

Child Care Access Disparities in Colorado

Nearly one in three families of children under age 1 do not have the child care that they need to work.  Out of 2,174 people surveyed (N= 2,174), low income and black families reported the largest percentage of unmet needs and difficulty finding childcare. 

Read the Report

Partners

Early Milestones is grateful to the following project funder, without whom this effort would not be possible.