As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Lakewood ranks the 167th largest city in the nation.

Lakewood, a Denver suburb of about 156,000 inside Jefferson County, sits squarely in the Front Range pattern: enough providers to function, prices that still consume a quarter of family budgets. Center-based infant care runs about $22,000 a year on Colorado state-average pricing, eating 26% of the city's $85,789 median household income — essentially identical to the burden in Aurora, despite a slightly higher local income. Jefferson County's 4.0 licensed establishments per 1,000 children under five is the strongest in the Denver-metro suburban cluster, lifting Lakewood's supply score above its peers. Mothers' work participation runs 69%, the single-parent share 33%. Lakewood ranks 113th of 250 — fourth of nine Colorado cities.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

113th nationally, score 52 (Moderate) — fourth of nine Colorado cities; Denver suburb in Jefferson County.
Infant care eats 26% of household income on state-average pricing — in line with Aurora and Fort Collins, well above the 22% national figure.
Affordability score 29, supply score 50 — the Front Range pattern: enough providers to function, prices that still consume a quarter of family budgets.

Actionable takeaways

Jefferson County is the supply bright spot in the Denver metro. At 4.0 establishments per 1,000 kids under five, Lakewood and Arvada share the strongest provider density in the suburban cluster — roughly twice Adams County's. Worth highlighting when contrasting Lakewood with Thornton or Westminster.
Pricing is a state-level estimate. Jefferson County is not in the federal price database; the $22,000 infant figure anchors to the 2024 CCAoA Colorado survey forward-projected to 2025. Lakewood center websites are the quickest local sanity-check.
Lakewood's higher income doesn't move the burden ratio much. A slight income lift over Denver still leaves infant care eating 26% of household income — the same share Aurora absorbs. The takeaway: the Colorado state-average price is the binding constraint, not local earnings.

Affordability — 29/100

Center-based infant care in Lakewood runs about $22,000 a year — roughly $1,840 a month, or 26% of the city's $85,789 median household income. That figure comes from statewide-average pricing data: the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices does not publish rates for Jefferson County, so the price draws from Child Care Aware of America's 2024 Colorado survey forward-projected to 2025. Lakewood families pay roughly $4,860 more per year for an infant slot than the national median. Infant care marginally exceeds median monthly rent. Lakewood's slightly higher household income compared to Denver does little to offset the burden — the share of income going to one infant slot is essentially identical to Aurora's.

Supply — 50/100

Lakewood has roughly 40 licensed slots for every 100 kids under five with working parents — outside the desert range but well below the national 73 per 100. Jefferson County licenses about 111 establishments serving an estimated 14,000 slots against demand from roughly 35,000 kids. Establishment density of 4.0 per 1,000 under-fives is the strongest in the Denver-metro suburban cluster, which lifts Lakewood's supply score above its peers. Even so, the absolute math holds the same shape as the rest of Colorado: a steady-state shortage rather than an acute crisis, with families relying on early enrollment and waitlists rather than walk-in capacity.

Workforce — 85/100

The median Lakewood childcare worker earns $18.62 an hour, or about $38,720 a year — among the higher median wages in the national index. Workforce data is reported at the Denver-Aurora MSA level, so the wage matches Denver's exactly. That same wage equals only 68% of MIT's living-wage threshold for the metro ($27.41/hr). Provider retention in Jefferson County faces the same metro-wide pressure as the rest of Denver: high nominal wages still come up short against Front Range housing costs, and competing service-sector employers in Lakewood and Golden draw from the same labor pool.

Family strain — 55/100

About 69% of Lakewood mothers with kids under six are in the labor force — one point above the national average and consistent with the broader state. Single-parent share runs at 33%, near the national 32% and notably higher than the Colorado statewide 27%. Lakewood's strain profile sits in the middle of the Colorado cohort: not as concentrated as Aurora's, but more burdened than the lower-strain college-anchored Fort Collins. The city's middle scoring reflects that mid-pack pattern rather than any single dramatic factor.

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; Lakewood inherits Colorado's full mix.

In-home care in Lakewood

In-home care in Lakewood reflects broader Denver-metro nanny-market patterns, with full-time live-out rates in line with the wider Front Range market. Jefferson County's mix of long-tenured suburban families and newer dual-income arrivals supports both traditional full-time placements and a growing share of nanny-share arrangements. Au pair placements through J-1 sponsors remain a smaller but steady channel for households that need flexibility around varying work schedules.

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.