As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Little Rock ranks the 124th largest city in the nation.

Pulaski County has roughly 70 licensed center slots for every 100 children under five with working parents — among the strongest supply ratios in the United States, and just shy of the 73-per-100 national average. That fact, more than anything else, is why Little Rock ranks 27th of 250 US cities and posts the strongest large-city score in the central South. Arkansas has done the unglamorous work that most of its neighbors haven't: a robust family child care sector, a quality rating system that providers actually use, and one of the few state pre-K programs in the South that funds 3-year-olds at scale. Tuition is still 17% of median income, and worker pay still tops out at $13.13 an hour. But supply, in this market, is what bends the rest.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Moderate-tier 64/100, ranked 27 of 250 — top quintile and strongest large-city score in the central South.
Pulaski County has 69.5 licensed slots per 100 working-parent kids — among the strongest supply ratios nationally; Arkansas's 8.2% statewide gap is smallest in South Central.
Workers earn $13.13/hr at 62% of living wage — $2-3/hr above Alabama and Mississippi peers, deepening the labor pool.

Actionable takeaways

Replicable model for similar-size Southern cities. Little Rock's combination — Better Beginnings QRIS, robust FCC sector, and Arkansas Better Chance funding 3-year-olds — is what's actually doing the work. Comparable metros (Shreveport, Jackson, Tulsa) could be measured against Pulaski County's 69.5-per-100 ratio rather than national averages.
The $2-3/hr workforce premium has a name. Pulaski County's 105 licensed establishments create a competitive labor market that AL and MS peers don't have — wages aren't policy-driven here, they're supply-driven. Watch establishment density per 1,000 young children as the leading indicator.
Arkansas is the South's outlier on 3-year-old pre-K. With 19% of 3-year-olds enrolled, Arkansas Better Chance is one of the few Southern programs funding pre-K below age 4 at scale — a measurable break from the regional pattern.

Affordability — 74/100

A year of infant center care in Pulaski County costs about $10,300 — roughly 60% of the national median. Against Little Rock's $60,583 median household income, that's 17.1% of pre-tax earnings, below the 21.9% national share but above the 15.7% Arkansas state average. The childcare-to-rent ratio is 0.81: infant care costs about four-fifths of rent, less burdensome than the national 1.06 but high enough that families feel it.

A typical Little Rock family with one infant in licensed center care pays roughly $6,800 less per year than the national median. Family child care homes run $8,150 annually — comparable to FCC pricing across the central South. Toddler ($9,800) and preschool ($8,800) center care drop further, easing pressure on households with older children.

Supply — 80/100

This is Little Rock's standout dimension and the single biggest reason it ranks 27th nationally. Pulaski County has about 69.5 licensed center slots per 100 children under five with working parents — among the strongest ratios in the country and just below the 73-per-100 national figure. With about 30,700 working-parent kids under five and 21,300 estimated licensed slots, Little Rock has roughly enough licensed capacity to cover seven in ten kids who need it.

Arkansas statewide reports an 8.2% supply gap (BPC 2026), the smallest in the South Central region. The state's expansion of the Better Beginnings quality rating system, combined with a large family child care sector, has held aggregate capacity higher than peer states.

Workforce — 53/100

Little Rock's childcare workers earn $13.13/hr — $27,310 a year for full-time work, or 62% of the local single-adult living wage. By national standards that's still low (the median across the index is $15.41/hr at 62.6% of living wage), but it's $2-3/hr above what Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana cities pay. Pulaski County's larger and more competitive provider base is part of the reason — 105 licensed establishments give the county a deeper labor market.

Worker pay at 62% of living wage doesn't solve the retention problem, but it changes the math of who can afford to stay in the field. A childcare wage in Little Rock is closer to a living wage than a wage in Birmingham — which is why Little Rock's centers staff up while Birmingham's struggle.

Family strain — 49/100

72.5% of Little Rock mothers with children under six are in the labor force, above the 68.2% national rate. The single-parent share among families with children is 44.4%, above the 31.8% national rate but well below Alabama's three big cities. 68.9% of children under six have all available parents working — high, but lower than Birmingham, Montgomery, or Mobile, suggesting more dual-earner households absorbing childcare logistics together.

The combination of working-parent intensity and a stronger supply base means Little Rock families face less acute shortage pressure than peers further south.

Policy support — 41/100

Arkansas's pre-K landscape is mid-pack: 32% of 4-year-olds and 19% of 3-year-olds enrolled in state pre-K (Arkansas Better Chance), at $5,675 per child, meeting 8 of 10 NIEER quality benchmarks. That 3-year-old enrollment number is meaningful — Arkansas is one of the few Southern states that funds 3-year-old pre-K at any scale. CCDF subsidy reach is 16.6%, low. There is no state paid family leave. Policy support is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Little Rock

In-home care in Little Rock reflects metro-wide nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates in line with the broader Arkansas and central South market. Demand concentrates in west Little Rock, the Heights, and the Chenal corridor — higher-income areas where dual-earner households can absorb the cost of a private caregiver. Nanny shares between two families are an increasingly common workaround for households that want consistent in-home care but can't underwrite a full-time caregiver alone.

Methodology: The the score is a 0-100 composite score across five dimensions: Affordability (30 pts), Supply (25 pts), Workforce Health (15 pts), Family Strain (15 pts), and Policy Support (15 pts). City-level prices and supply use the city's primary containing county. Policy Support is measured at the state level. Full methodology and data sources: beverly.io/research/methodology.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates; U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS (May 2024) and QCEW; Buffett Early Childhood Institute / Bipartisan Policy Center / Child Care Aware childcaregap.org (Sept 2025); NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook 2024; HHS ACF CCDF FY2023; National Partnership for Women & Families (March 2026).

Methodology. The State of Childcare Index is a 0-100 composite score across five dimensions: Affordability (30 pts), Supply (25 pts), Workforce Health (15 pts), Family Strain (15 pts), and Policy Support (15 pts). Each dimension draws on publicly available federal data: U.S. Census ACS (5-year), DOL Women's Bureau NDCP, BLS OEWS and QCEW, the Buffett/BPC/CCAoA childcaregap.org dataset, NIEER State of Preschool, and HHS ACF CCDF reports. City-level prices and supply use the city's primary containing county. Policy Support is measured at the state level. Full methodology and data sources: /research/methodology.