As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Denver ranks the 19th largest city in the nation.

Denver pays its early educators well by national standards: a median $18.62 an hour, lifting the city's workforce score to 85 — among the strongest readings in the index. The same wage, set against a Denver County living wage of $27.41, covers just 68% of what self-sufficiency requires. The state's chronic data gap means there is no county-level price published for Denver — the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices does not survey any Colorado county — so the $22,000 estimate for a year of infant center care anchors to Child Care Aware's 2024 statewide survey. That price consumes 24% of the city's $91,681 median household income. Mothers' LFP runs 72%, four points above national; the single-parent share, 32%, sits in line. Denver is the brighter spot in a state ranked 27th nationally with a Strained 49.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Score 54/100 (Moderate); ranked 97 nationally, #2 of 9 in Colorado — Front Range anchor, state ranks 27th nationally with a Strained 49.
Infant center care ~$22,000 — 24% of $91,681 median household income; pricing anchored to statewide Child Care Aware survey, no county-level data.
Workforce score 85 — $18.62 hourly wage clears national but covers just 68% of $27.41 Denver County living wage.

Actionable takeaways

Pricing is a state-survey estimate, not a Denver count. The federal Department of Labor publishes no Colorado county prices, so the $22,000 figure anchors to Child Care Aware's 2024 statewide survey — flag this caveat when comparing Denver to peer markets that have actual county data.
FAMLI is Colorado's bright spot, CCDF is the gap. The new state paid-leave program offers up to 12 weeks at 90% replacement, but CCDF subsidy reaches only 12.7% of eligible families — the policy mismatch concentrates pressure on lower-income working parents.
Denver workforce wages lead the Mountain West. $18.62 median is among the index's best, but the 68% living-wage gap means the same dollar buys less than in Aurora or Lakewood; turnover stays high regardless of Denver's nominal-pay advantage.

Affordability — 36/100

Center-based infant care in Denver runs roughly $22,000 a year — about $1,840 a month, or 24% of the city's $91,681 median household income. That figure comes from statewide-average pricing data, not Denver-specific surveys: the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices does not publish county-level rates for any Colorado county, including Denver County, so we anchor to Child Care Aware of America's 2024 Colorado survey and forward-project. Even with that caveat, the burden is real. Denver families pay roughly $4,860 more per year for an infant slot than the national median, and infant care narrowly exceeds the city's median monthly rent. For a Denver household at the city median, choosing center care for one infant means absorbing nearly a quarter of pre-tax income before food, transportation, or savings.

Supply — 41/100

Denver has roughly 40 licensed slots for every 100 kids under five with working parents — not technically a desert (the cutoff is 33 slots per 100 kids), but well below the national rate of 73 per 100. The county licenses about 132 establishments serving an estimated 19,400 slots against demand from roughly 48,600 kids. Denver fares better than Colorado overall, where the Bipartisan Policy Center pegs the statewide gap at 37%. The math is unforgiving: even with relatively dense provider coverage by Mountain-West standards, three out of five Denver kids whose parents work have no licensed slot to claim.

Workforce — 85/100

The median Denver childcare worker earns $18.62 an hour, or about $38,720 a year — among the highest median wages of any city in this index, and 28th-percentile good in absolute terms. That same wage equals only 68% of MIT's living-wage threshold for a single adult in Denver County ($27.41/hr). Denver pays its early educators well by national standards and still leaves them short of self-sufficiency in the metro they serve. The gap explains why turnover stays high even where wages have risen: a worker can earn more, in real terms, an hour east in Aurora at the same nominal rate because the living-wage bar is the same — the floor moves with rent.

Family strain — 69/100

About 72% of Denver mothers with kids under six are in the labor force — above the national 68% and the state 68%. In a high-cost metro, that participation rate signals economic necessity as much as opportunity; with infant care eating 24% of median income, two earners are not optional for most middle-class Denver households. Roughly 32% of families with kids under 18 are headed by a single parent, in line with the national share of 32% and notably higher than Colorado's statewide 27%. The combination — high mothers' work participation, high single-parenthood, low subsidy reach — concentrates strain on exactly the households with the least slack.

Policy support — 65/100

Colorado's universal pre-K serves about 70% of four-year-olds, well above the national norm but with limited intensity: state per-child spending is $5,722, and Colorado meets only 2 of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks. The state's paid family and medical leave program (FAMLI), effective January 2024, offers up to 12 weeks at up to 90% wage replacement — among the most generous in the country. CCDF subsidy reach in Colorado, however, sits at 12.7%, leaving most income-eligible families without help. Policy is measured at state level; Denver inherits Colorado's hybrid of strong leave and patchy subsidy.

In-home care in Denver

In-home care in Denver tracks broader Front Range nanny-market patterns, with full-time live-out rates running in line with the wider Denver-Boulder corridor. Nanny shares — typically two families splitting one caregiver — have grown as families search for under-the-table escape from $22K-plus center bills. Au pair placements through State Department-designated J-1 sponsors remain a smaller but steady channel for dual-income households needing flexible hours.

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; Child Care Aware of America 2024 state survey (Colorado pricing anchor); 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.