As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, San Bernardino ranks the 105th largest city in the nation.

San Bernardino is the worst-ranked city in California and the eighth-worst nationally — a structural failure rather than a price story. Infant center care runs $21,146 a year, lower than coastal California, but consumes 33% of a $63,988 median household income, the highest cost burden in this report. The supply environment is sparser than the affordability one: 1.76 licensed establishments per 1,000 children under five, less than half the California average and the lowest density of any city in the dataset. Single parents head 44% of households with kids, mothers' labor force participation runs 58.1% — well below state and national figures — and the family-strain dimension scores 15/100. Some parents are not working because the slot they would need costs more than the wages they would earn.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Ranked 244 of 250, score 30 (Crisis); worst-ranked city in California, eighth-worst nationally.
Infant care eats 33% of pre-tax income — highest cost burden in the report — on a $63,988 median income, two-thirds the state median.
Single parents head 44% of households with kids; 1.76 establishments per 1,000 kids — lowest density in the dataset, half California's rate.

Actionable takeaways

Lead with the structural failure framing. San Bernardino is the worst-ranked city in California and 8th-worst nationally — every dimension other than the inherited California state policy reading sits at or near the bottom; this is not a price story but a system breakdown.
Cite the 1.76 establishments per 1,000 kids reading. It is the lowest licensed-provider density of any city in the 250-city dataset — less than half California's average — and the binding constraint behind the 18/100 Supply subscore.
Track mothers' LFP at 58.1% as the bottom-line measure. With a 44% single-parent share and the country's heaviest cost burden, San Bernardino is the cleanest American example of what happens when the slot a parent needs costs more than the wages the parent could earn.

Affordability — 19/100

A center-based infant slot in San Bernardino County runs $21,146 a year, projected to 2025. That number is lower than coastal California's, but on a median household income of $63,988 — about two-thirds of the state median — it consumes 33.0% of pre-tax earnings. The childcare-to-rent ratio is 1.23: one infant slot in San Bernardino costs nearly a quarter more than a family's monthly housing.

National context puts the burden in stark relief. The U.S. median family pays 21.9% of income for the same slot; California averages 24.7%; San Bernardino sits 8 points above its own state. The math for working-class San Bernardino households is the math the federal "affordable" benchmark of 7% of income was written to flag. A two-child family using center care would pay about $34,000 a year — roughly 53% of median income before any other expense. Family child care brings the infant cost to $13,030, but even that is 20% of the median household's earnings on its own. There is no version of these numbers that leaves room for savings, emergencies, or a second child.

Supply — 18/100

San Bernardino County licenses roughly 69,543 slots against 178,482 children under 5 with working parents — the standard 39 slots per 100 kids the state pro-rata estimate produces. The local read is harder: 1.76 licensed establishments per 1,000 children under 5, less than half California's 4.23 average and the lowest establishment density of any city in this report. The Inland Empire's combination of long commute distances, sparse provider density, and a low-wage workforce produces a supply environment where the closest licensed center may be 15 minutes from the closest job. The "desert" classification is technical; the lived reality is closer to one.

Workforce — 58/100

San Bernardino County childcare workers earn a median $17.80 an hour, or $37,020 a year. The EPI living wage for a single adult in the Inland Empire is $28.26 — meaning provider pay is 63.0% of cost of living, slightly above California's 60.3% average. This is the only dimension where San Bernardino scores above its peer cities, and the reason is the lower local cost of living, not better wages. Pay is still well below the threshold where staff can afford to live in the area where they work without doubling up.

Family strain — 15/100

This is San Bernardino's hardest read. The single-parent share is 43.97% — 15 points above the California average and 12 points above the national. Mothers' labor force participation for kids under 6 is 58.1%, well below state and national averages. The combination — high single-parenting plus depressed mothers' employment — describes a city where the childcare math has already broken for a meaningful share of families. Some parents aren't working because the slot they would need costs more than the wages they would earn. The family-strain score of 15.1/100 is bottom-decile nationally.

Policy support — 56/100

California's policy framework sets San Bernardino's floor: state pre-K serving 48% of 4-year-olds at $15,192 per child, CCDF subsidy reach of 16.4% of eligible kids, and 8 weeks of paid family leave at 90% wage replacement (effective 2004). California meets 4.2 of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks. Policy is measured at the state level. The gap between what the state's policy package offers and what San Bernardino families need to make childcare work is one of the widest in this report.

In-home care in San Bernardino

In-home care in San Bernardino reflects Inland Empire patterns more than coastal California's, with full-time live-out nanny rates running below the Los Angeles and Orange County bands. For most San Bernardino households, paid in-home care is not financially accessible — extended-family networks and informal community-based care absorb a large share of what licensed centers cannot meet. Nanny shares occasionally appear among dual-income households closer to the upper end of the local income distribution.

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.