As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Clovis ranks the 226th largest city in the nation.

Clovis, a Fresno County city of 124,000 on the metro's northeastern edge, supports just 1.54 licensed childcare establishments per 1,000 children under five — less than 40% of California's average and one of the thinnest densities in the index. Yet the city scores 52, in the Moderate tier, on the strength of two countervailing patterns. Infant center care runs $20,843 a year, the lowest in this cohort, and against a $100,360 median household income, lands at 20.8% of pretax pay. The local $16.53 hourly childcare wage covers 65.3% of a Fresno-area $25.33 living wage — the most favorable workforce ratio in this group, anchored by a low cost-of-living rather than generous pay. Mothers' LFP runs 72.7%, four points above the national rate. The thin establishment count is the binding constraint families experience.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Score 52/100 (Moderate); ranked 111 nationally, #24 of 54 in California — Fresno County, northeastern Central Valley metro edge.
Infant center care $20,843 — lowest in this cohort, 20.8% of $100,360 household income; childcare-to-rent ratio 1.05.
Establishment density 1.54 per 1,000 kids under 5 — less than 40% of California average; mothers' LFP 72.7%, well above national.

Actionable takeaways

Fresno County's thinnest-in-cohort supply is the binding constraint. 1.54 establishments per 1,000 kids forces Clovis families onto fewer programs and longer waitlists than Bay Area or Conejo Valley counterparts; track Fresno-area license counts as the leading indicator on slot scarcity.
Workforce score is a low-COL artifact, like Visalia. $16.53/hr clears 65.3% of a $25.33 living wage because the living wage is low; absolute provider pay still trails the state.
72.7% mothers' LFP is the Central Valley dual-earner pattern. Above national, well above California — Clovis runs more workforce-attached than typical inland California; the demand pressure on the thin local network comes from this dual-earner intensity.

Affordability — 59/100

A Clovis family with one infant in a Fresno County licensed center pays roughly $20,843 a year — the lowest infant-center figure in this nine-city California cohort. Against a $100,360 median household income, that lands at 20.8% of HHI, still nearly three times the federal 7% affordability benchmark but materially below the California state average of 24.7%. A toddler slot runs $13,216. The childcare-to-rent ratio comes in at 1.05 — a full year of infant care costs slightly more than twelve months of the city's $1,662 median rent, which is itself the lowest rent in this cohort. The lived implication: a typical Clovis family pays about $3,700 more per child for infant care than the national median household, but earns roughly $22,000 more, so the dollars work better here than the state-level numbers suggest.

Supply — 16/100

Supply is where Clovis falls hardest. Fresno County supports 111 licensed childcare establishments serving a working-parent population of roughly 90,545 children under five — yielding 1.54 establishments per 1,000 kids under five, less than 40% of the California state average (4.23) and one of the thinnest provider densities in this nine-city cohort. Slot capacity comes in at about 39 per 100 kids of working parents, in line with statewide pro-rated estimates, but the establishment-density figure tells the field-level story: Clovis families have fewer programs to choose between, longer waitlists, and a heavier reliance on home-based care than families in the East Bay or Conejo Valley.

Workforce — 75/100

Childcare workers in Fresno County earn a median $16.53 an hour — about $34,380 a year — meaningfully above the national median of $15.41 and more than $2 above the federal childcare wage floor. The Fresno-area living wage for a single adult is $25.33/hour, so providers earn 65.3% of what it costs to live independently. That 65% ratio is among the better workforce-health figures in California and helps explain why Clovis scores 75/100 on this dimension. The retention story is healthier here than in the Bay Area or Conejo Valley because the wage gap is narrower in absolute dollars, even though center capacity is thin.

Family strain — 73/100

Family strain reads relatively favorably for Clovis. Mothers' labor force participation for kids under six runs at 72.7%, about four points above the national rate of 68.2% and well above California's 65.6% — a Central Valley dual-earner pattern. The single-parent share, at 31.2%, is slightly above the state average but well below Vallejo's 40.6%. With a $100K median household income and a low-rent base, Clovis families have more economic absorption capacity than the strain dimension typically rewards in California. The driver of this score is plain: strong workforce participation paired with manageable cost ratios.

Policy support — 56/100

California provides a moderate floor of state-level support: 48% of 4-year-olds and 10% of 3-year-olds enrolled in state pre-K, with $15,192 per child invested. The state's Paid Family Leave program (effective 2004) replaces 90% of wages for up to 8 weeks. Federal CCDF subsidies reach about 16.4% of eligible California families. Pre-K quality benchmarks remain limited (4.2 of 10). Policy is measured at the state level; Clovis families inherit it equally with families across the Central Valley.

In-home care in Clovis

In-home care in Clovis typically reflects Fresno-area nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates running in the broader Central Valley band — meaningfully below Bay Area or coastal SoCal levels. With supply density at 1.54 establishments per 1,000 kids under five — the thinnest in this cohort — and 72.7% mothers' LFP, working families here lean more heavily on family-based care, home-based licensed providers, and informal nanny arrangements than on a deep center network.

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.