As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Fairfield ranks the 232nd largest city in the nation.

Fairfield and Vallejo sit on opposite shores of the Carquinez Strait in Solano County, paying the same county prices for childcare. Fairfield's $102,321 median household income runs $13,000 above its neighbor's, and the affordability picture follows: a $21,966 infant-care bill at 21.5% of pretax pay, with a 0.84 childcare-to-rent ratio. The workforce score is one of California's better readings at 75.9, anchored by the $18.24 hourly wage. The breakpoint is family structure. Mothers' labor force participation runs just 59% for kids under six — ten points below the state, the lowest in this cohort — and the single-parent share is 32.2%, slightly above California's. The pattern reads as access constraints pulling some mothers out of the labor market entirely. The composite: 57, Moderate tier, ranked 8th of 54 in California.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Score 57/100 (Moderate); ranked 68 nationally, #8 of 54 in California — Solano County, higher-income twin to neighboring Vallejo.
Infant center care $21,966 — 21.5% of $102,321 household income; childcare 0.84 times annual rent.
Mothers' LFP 59% — ten points below California, lowest in this cohort; workforce score 75.9, the headline strength.

Actionable takeaways

Twin Vallejo on Solano County price, contrast on income. Same $21,966 infant tuition, same $18.24 wage — Fairfield's $13K HHI premium is the only structural variable; the comparison isolates exactly how income absorbs Solano County's Bay Area-adjacent costs.
59% mothers' LFP signals access constraints, not preference. Lowest in the cohort, ten points below California — the pattern reads as costs and access pulling some Fairfield mothers out of the labor market entirely; worth a follow-up on local center waitlist length.
Workforce score 75.9 is a Solano County advantage. $18.24/hr at 65.4% of $27.87 living wage is a healthier ratio than coastal Ventura or San Diego counties manage; expect lower turnover and more stable caregiver continuity.

Affordability — 67/100

A Fairfield family with one infant in a Solano County licensed center pays roughly $21,966 a year. Against a $102,321 median household income, infant care eats 21.5% of HHI — still three times the federal 7% benchmark, but more workable than Vallejo's 24.5% or the California state average of 24.7%. A toddler slot adds $14,598. The childcare-to-rent ratio of 0.84 means twelve months of infant care runs roughly five-sixths of twelve months of Fairfield's $2,191 median rent. The lived implication: a typical Fairfield family pays about $4,800 more per child for infant care than the national median household, but earns roughly $24,000 more, so the affordability score reflects that absorption capacity. Fairfield is the higher-income, lower-strain Solano County twin to Vallejo.

Supply — 47/100

Solano County supports 110 licensed establishments — 4.24 per 1,000 children under five, in line with the California state average. Slot capacity comes in at about 39 per 100 kids with working parents, enough to clear "desert" classification but still leaving most working families competing for under-supplied spots. Statewide, the Bipartisan Policy Center pegs California's gap between projected demand and licensed slots at 35.8%, meaning more than a third of children whose parents would use licensed care can't access a slot. Fairfield families inherit that pressure within an East Bay outer-ring market that is less dense than the inner Bay Area.

Workforce — 76/100

Workforce health is Fairfield's strongest dimension. Childcare workers in Solano County earn a median $18.24 an hour — about $37,930 a year — measurably above the national median of $15.41 and slightly ahead of the California state median. The local living wage for a single adult is $27.87/hour, so providers earn 65.4% of what it costs to live here independently — a healthier ratio than coastal Ventura or San Diego counties manage. The implication for Fairfield families is real: higher provider pay translates to lower turnover, which translates to more stable caregiver relationships for the kids in those programs.

Family strain — 36/100

Family strain is where Fairfield's profile gets harder to read. Mothers' labor force participation for children under six runs at just 59% — about ten points below the California state rate of 65.6% and nine points below the national figure of 68.2%. The single-parent share is 32.2%, slightly above the California average. The combination — lower mothers' LFP and a single-parent share above the state norm — suggests that childcare access and affordability constraints are pulling some Fairfield mothers out of the labor market entirely, an interpretation reinforced by the 21.5% cost-burden figure. This is the structural family-strain story behind the Solano County numbers.

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; Fairfield families inherit it equally with families across Solano County.

In-home care in Fairfield

In-home care in Fairfield typically reflects East Bay outer-ring nanny-market patterns, with full-time live-out rates running in the broader Solano County / North Bay band rather than at San Francisco-proper levels. With mothers' LFP at 59% and a higher single-parent share, demand here skews toward part-time and after-school coverage as much as full-day arrangements. Nanny shares between two families remain a workable cost-splitting option for two-earner households squeezed by $36,000+ in two-child center costs.

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.