As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Greeley ranks the 249th largest city in the nation.

Greeley sits in Weld County — Colorado's energy and agriculture hub, north of the Denver metro — and carries one of the heaviest infant-care burdens in the score. Center-based infant care runs about $22,000 a year on Colorado state-average pricing, eating 32% of the city's $68,650 median household income, the highest burden ratio in Colorado and roughly 10 points above the national figure. Greeley families pay $4,860 more per year for an infant slot than the national median while earning about $10,000 less. Infant care exceeds median monthly rent by 38%, the most extreme childcare-to-rent spread in the Colorado cohort. Mothers' work participation runs 60%, eight points below national — likely a measure of access, not preference. Greeley ranks 204th of 250 — last among Colorado cities.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

204th nationally, score 41 (Strained) — last among Colorado cities; Weld County energy-and-agriculture hub.
Infant care eats 32% of household income — the highest burden in Colorado and roughly 10 points above the national median.
Childcare costs 38% more per month than median rent — the most extreme childcare-to-rent ratio in the Colorado cohort.

Actionable takeaways

Greeley's 32% income burden is among the heaviest in the entire 250-city dataset. Families pay $4,860 more per year than the national infant-care median while earning roughly $10,000 less — a punishment compounded by the energy and agriculture economy's irregular hours.
The childcare-rent inversion is concrete. A Greeley family pays 38% more per month for one infant slot than the median apartment costs. That ratio is reportable on its own, ahead of any policy framing.
Workforce is the silver lining. Childcare workers here clear 72% of the local living wage — among the strongest readings in Colorado — so the strain is a parent-side and pricing-side story, not a wage-suppression one.

Affordability — 9/100

Center-based infant care in Greeley runs about $22,000 a year — roughly $1,840 a month, or 32% of the city's $68,650 median household income. The price comes from statewide-average pricing data: the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices does not publish rates for Weld County, so the figure draws from Child Care Aware of America's 2024 Colorado survey forward-projected to 2025. The burden is the most punishing in the Colorado cohort. Greeley families pay roughly $4,860 more per year for an infant slot than the national median while earning roughly $10,000 less than the national median. Infant care exceeds median monthly rent by 38% — the widest spread in the Colorado cluster. For a Greeley household at the city median, choosing center care for one infant means absorbing nearly a third of pre-tax income before everything else. The affordability score of 9/100 reflects that math: by national percentile, Greeley sits in the bottom decile.

Supply — 36/100

Greeley has roughly 40 licensed slots for every 100 kids under five with working parents — short of the desert threshold but well below the national 73 per 100. Weld County licenses about 68 establishments serving an estimated 11,200 slots against demand from roughly 28,100 kids. Establishment density of 2.9 per 1,000 under-fives sits in the lower middle of the Colorado cohort. Weld is the state's energy and agriculture hub, with development spreading across a large geographic footprint — supply concentrates in central Greeley while newer outlying tracts face longer drive times to a licensed slot.

Workforce — 97/100

The median Greeley childcare worker earns $17.82 an hour, or about $37,070 a year — one of the strongest workforce-health scores in the entire 250-city index. That same wage equals 72% of MIT's living-wage threshold for Weld County ($24.60/hr). Greeley pays its early educators well by national standards, helped by a lower local cost of living than the Denver metro. The wage-to-living-wage ratio is among the highest in Colorado — a real bright spot in a city otherwise pulled down by affordability and family strain.

Family strain — 36/100

About 60% of Greeley mothers with kids under six are in the labor force — eight points below the national 68% and the lowest in the Colorado cohort. Single-parent share runs at 32%, near the national average and above the state's 27%. The lower mothers' work participation, combined with low household incomes and high single-parent concentration, points to childcare access being a binding constraint rather than a choice. Greeley scores in the bottom half of the family-strain dimension because the local economy has not absorbed mothers of young children at the same rate as the rest of Colorado — and the affordability math suggests cost is part of the reason.

Policy support — 65/100

Colorado's universal pre-K reaches about 70% of four-year-olds, with state per-child spending of $5,722 and 2 of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks met. The state's FAMLI paid leave program, effective January 2024, offers up to 12 weeks at up to 90% wage replacement. CCDF subsidy reach is 12.7% statewide. Policy is measured at the state level; Greeley inherits Colorado's full mix. Given local incomes, a higher share of Greeley families fall within CCDF eligibility than in Denver or Arvada — but the 12.7% reach rate means most of those eligible go without.

In-home care in Greeley

In-home care in Greeley reflects broader Northern Colorado nanny-market patterns, with full-time live-out rates somewhat below the Denver-metro range. The agricultural and energy economy creates a different demand profile than the Front Range suburbs — non-standard work hours, seasonal swings, and meaningful demand for after-school and overnight coverage. Au pair placements remain rare relative to the metro markets, while informal family-based care and nanny shares are more common among households priced out of center care.

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.