As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Jacksonville ranks the 10th largest city in the nation.

Among Florida's large cities, Jacksonville posts the strongest score in this index — 62/100, ranked 40th nationally. The drivers are a $15-an-hour median wage for childcare workers (the best in the state) and a consolidated city-county that lets every licensed provider in Duval sit inside the city limits. Yet only 64.6% of Jacksonville mothers with children under six are in the labor force, the lowest figure in this report. In a city where infant tuition is below the national median and household income is at it, that gap is hard to read as anything other than mothers stepping out because the math, even at favorable prices, still doesn't quite work.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Moderate-tier 62/100, ranked 40 of 250 — strongest score of any large Florida city, helped by consolidated city-county geography.
Workers earn $15.00/hr at the median — best in Florida, at the index median, and the structural reason capacity stays stable.
Mothers' labor force participation is 64.6% — below Florida (69.6%) and national (68.2%); the weakest mothers' LFP in the index.

Actionable takeaways

The lowest mothers' LFP in the entire 250-city index, against favorable affordability. Jacksonville's 64.6% is the most striking number in the report — when infant tuition is below the national median and incomes are at it, mothers exiting the workforce signals math that still doesn't quite close.
Consolidated city-county geography simplifies the supply read. Every licensed center in Duval sits inside the city limits — unlike Miami-Dade or Hillsborough, there's no suburban capacity hiding outside the urban core. The 55-per-100 ratio is the actual lived experience.
Florida VPK paradox in sharpest form. 65% of Jacksonville's 4-year-olds enroll in pre-K spending $2,838 per child — high reach, low intensity. That's why workforce wages still cap at $15/hr even as Jacksonville posts FL's strongest score.

Affordability — 71/100

A year of infant center care in Duval County costs about $12,700 — roughly three-quarters of the national median of $17,163 and slightly under Florida's $13,400 statewide average. Against Jacksonville's $66,981 median household income, that's 18.9% of pre-tax earnings, below the 21.9% national share and almost identical to Florida's 18.7%. The childcare-to-rent ratio is 0.77: infant care costs noticeably less than rent, easing pressure relative to most US cities where the two have crossed.

A typical Jacksonville family with one infant in licensed center care pays about $4,500 less per year than the national median. Family child care home pricing is high relative to peers ($10,950 for an infant), reflecting Florida's regulatory costs and a smaller-than-average FCC sector.

Supply — 60/100

Duval County has about 55 licensed center slots per 100 children under five with working parents — above Florida's average and below the 73-per-100 national figure. The consolidated Jacksonville-Duval government simplifies the supply story compared to fragmented metros: every licensed center in the county sits inside the city limits. With 79,200 working-parent kids under five and an estimated 43,800 licensed slots, Jacksonville has roughly enough capacity to cover slightly over half its working-parent demand.

The 238 licensed establishments give Jacksonville 3.68 establishments per 1,000 young children — below Florida's 4.05 statewide. Capacity exists; provider density is the constraint.

Workforce — 73/100

Jacksonville's childcare workers earn $15.00/hr at the median — the strongest wage of Florida's large cities and effectively at the index median ($15.41). That's $31,200 a year for full-time work, or 65% of the local single-adult living wage. Both the absolute wage and the wage-to-living-wage ratio land Jacksonville among the better large-city workforce stories in this report.

The 73 workforce score reflects how unusual that is in this part of the country. Florida's pricing is near-national but its provider wages elsewhere in the state often aren't. Duval's relative wage strength is the structural reason its overall score sits above peer Florida cities — when providers can afford to stay, capacity stabilizes.

Family strain — 29/100

64.6% of Jacksonville mothers with children under six are in the labor force — below the 68.2% national rate, below Florida's 69.6%, and the lowest mothers' LFP in this report. In a higher-income city, that signal would be ambiguous. In Jacksonville, with $66,981 median income and a 41% single-parent share among families with children, it's most consistent with mothers exiting the workforce because the childcare math doesn't work — the price-vs-income gap is favorable but not generous, and infant supply is mid-pack.

The family strain score of 29 captures that pressure. Jacksonville does well on workforce and affordability; it does worse on the human numbers behind the math.

Policy support — 69/100

Florida's Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) enrolls 65% of 4-year-olds — strong reach for a state-level program. But spending is $2,838 per child, well below the national average for state pre-K, and the program meets 5 of 10 NIEER quality benchmarks. The pattern is high coverage at low intensity. CCDF subsidy reach is 30.5% statewide, serving roughly 112,900 Florida children monthly. Florida has no state paid family leave. Policy support is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Jacksonville

In-home care in Jacksonville reflects metro-wide nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates in line with the broader Florida market. Demand concentrates in the Beaches, San Marco, and the Mandarin/Julington Creek corridor — higher-income areas where dual-earner households can absorb the cost of a private caregiver. Nanny shares between two families are an increasingly common workaround for households that want consistent in-home care but can't underwrite a full-time caregiver alone.

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.