As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Concord ranks the 221st largest city in the nation.

In Concord, a Contra Costa County commuter city of 130,000 on the East Bay's outer ring, mothers' labor force participation hits 71.3% for children under six — well above California's 65.6% and against the broader Bay Area pattern of more constrained dual-earner participation. The city's family-strain score of 76.9 is among the strongest in this cohort. The Bay Area cost structure still applies: $26,647 a year for infant center care, 24.4% of a $109,195 median household income, with infant tuition at exactly $2,221 a month against a $2,226 median rent — a household effectively carrying two rents. Workforce score 68.7, lifted by the metro's $21.62 prevailing childcare wage. The composite of 57, ranking 11th in California, makes Concord a Bay Area outlier on workforce and one of California's few cities where high mothers' LFP holds up against the cost stack.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Score 57/100 (Moderate); ranked 78 nationally, #11 of 54 in California — Contra Costa County commuter city, East Bay outer ring.
Infant center care $26,647 — 24.4% of $109,195 household income; childcare-to-rent ratio 1.00, families carrying two rents.
Workforce score 68.7 on $21.62 metro wage — Bay Area outlier on provider pay; mothers' LFP 71.3%.

Actionable takeaways

Bay Area outlier on workforce. Concord's $21.62/hr metro wage clears 64.1% of Contra Costa's $33.71 living wage — better than most California metros and a rare case of Bay Area wage inflation feeding through to provider pay.
Childcare-to-rent ratio of exactly 1.00 is the household-budget signal. A Concord family with one infant carries effectively two rents; this is the practical breaking point above which Bay Area dual-earner households start looking at nanny shares or au pairs.
5.69 establishments per 1,000 kids is the East Bay supply cushion. Contra Costa County's licensed-care density is among California's strongest; this is the structural reason Concord absorbs Bay Area pricing without supply collapse.

Affordability — 40/100

A year of center-based infant care in Concord runs about $26,647 — roughly $2,221 a month, or 24.4% of the median household income of $109,195. Contra Costa County is one of the more expensive licensed-care counties in California, and Concord inherits that price floor even as the East Bay's housing market gives families some relief compared with central San Francisco or Oakland. The childcare-to-rent ratio is exactly 1.00 — monthly center care equals median rent of $2,226, which means a Concord family with one infant is effectively carrying two rents. The California average burden is 24.7% and the national median is 21.9%. Family childcare homes drop the price to $18,611, still high in absolute terms but a meaningful pressure valve. The lived implication: a Concord family with one infant in licensed center care spends roughly $9,500 more per year than the national median, with about $30,000 more in income to absorb it — workable but not comfortable.

Supply — 57/100

Contra Costa County offers about 39 licensed slots per 100 children under five with working parents and roughly 5.69 establishments per 1,000 kids under five — one of the better establishment densities in the Bay Area. Concord sits in the densest segment of the East Bay's licensed care market, and supply is healthier here than in much of the rest of California. The county is not classified as a childcare desert. Waitlists exist, particularly for infant rooms, but the choice set is broader than in most California cities of similar size.

Workforce — 69/100

The median childcare worker in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro earns $21.62 an hour — about $44,970 a year, the highest in this California cohort. That covers 64.1% of Contra Costa County's living wage of $33.71 for a single adult. The workforce-health score of 68.7 is driven by Bay Area wage inflation feeding through to provider pay more than it has in Southern California — though the ratio still falls short of a true working wage in Contra Costa County. Turnover pressure is real but less acute than in most California metros.

Family strain — 76.9/100

About 71.3% of Concord mothers with kids under six are in the labor force — well above the national rate of 68.2% and California's 65.6%. The single-parent share is 23.9%, below California (29%) and the national rate (32%). The combination — high mothers' LFP plus a stable two-parent share — produces one of the strongest family-strain scores in this cohort (76.9). The pattern: Concord households are dual-earner by economic necessity, and the local infrastructure (centers, in-home care, family) functions well enough to sustain that pattern at scale.

Policy support — 56.2/100

California enrolls 48% of four-year-olds in state pre-K, spends $15,192 per child served, and meets 4.2 of NIEER's ten quality benchmarks. The state's CCDF subsidy reaches 16.4% of eligible children. California Paid Family Leave provides 8 weeks at 90% wage replacement. Policy support is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Concord

In-home care in Concord typically reflects East Bay nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates running above national averages and slightly below central San Francisco benchmarks. Nanny shares are well-established in the East Bay — a partial response to Bay Area pricing that brings effective per-child costs closer to center pricing. Au pair placements have a meaningful presence in Contra Costa County, drawing on the same J-1 sponsor agency network that serves the rest of the Bay Area.

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.