As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Illinois has 6 cities among the largest 250 in the nation.
A center-based infant in Chicago costs roughly $6,000 more per year than the same arrangement in Des Moines, despite comparable median incomes. Statewide, Illinois infant tuition runs $19,368 — $2,200 above the national average — eating 23.7% of pre-tax median income, while the licensed system covers fewer than two-thirds of children with potential need. Yet the state also enrolls 24% of its 3-year-olds in pre-K, a figure rivaling any in the country, and pays its childcare workforce above the national median. Illinois finishes 43rd of 50 nationally, the lowest-ranked of the larger Midwestern states. The state is at least three childcare markets stitched together — Cook, the collar counties, and downstate — and the population-weighted average is what families actually live with.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- Strained (42/100), ranked 43rd nationally — the lowest-ranked of the larger Midwestern states.
- Infant care eats 23.7% of median income at $19,368 a year; the childcare-to-rent ratio of 1.32 sits well above the 1.06 national figure.
- Slot gap reaches 37%, ten points worse than the national rate; 3-year-old pre-K access of 24% is the state's one outlier strength.
Affordability — 20/100
A center-based infant slot in Illinois runs $19,368 a year — $2,200 above the $17,163 national figure and the dominant reason the state sits in the bottom decile on Affordability. At 23.7% of the $81,702 median household income, infant care eats nearly a quarter of pre-tax pay for a typical Illinois family. The childcare-to-rent ratio reaches 1.32 — meaning the average Illinois family with one infant in center care spends about a third more on childcare than on housing each month, well above the 1.06 national ratio. Toddler care runs $16,306; preschool, $14,437. Family child care offers the only real relief, with infant FCC at $12,456 — still expensive but $7,000 below center pricing. The state's affordability score lands deep in Strained territory because Illinois's per-child price tag has tracked closer to the high-cost Northeast than to its lower-priced Plains neighbors. The Cook County and DuPage County cost basis pulls the state average up; outstate Illinois pays meaningfully less, but the population-weighted average is what families and policymakers actually live with. For a Chicago family, center infant care costs roughly $6,000 more per year than the same arrangement in Des Moines, despite comparable median incomes once cost-of-living is set aside.
Supply — 39/100
Illinois licensed 371,620 childcare slots against 586,490 children with potential need — a 37% gap that places the state well below the 27% national figure. Of the 884,041 kids under five with all parents working, fewer than half can be served by the licensed system at full enrollment. The state operates 2,917 licensed establishments at 4.12 per 1,000 children under five, a hair below the 4.21 national rate. Illinois isn't classified as a desert at the state level, but the supply pressure is concentrated in two patterns: Chicago neighborhoods where infant capacity has fallen faster than total enrollment, and rural downstate counties that have lost more than a quarter of home-based providers since 2019. The supply gap is the second-largest contributor to the state's Strained ranking after price, and the two interact: high prices push families out, falling enrollment thins provider revenue, and providers close — which removes capacity that won't return when demand recovers.
Workforce — 63/100
Illinois pays its childcare workforce better than most peer states: median wages of $15.80/hour edge above the $15.41 national figure and reach 64.7% of the state's $24.42 living wage for a single adult. Annual median pay sits at $32,860 across the 22,540 workers the state classifies in the occupation. The wage-to-living-wage ratio is the dimension where Illinois actually outperforms its overall ranking. That said, 64.7% is still a structural gap — workers in Cook County, where the cost of living is materially higher than the state average, see a sharper squeeze than the state aggregate suggests. The Workforce score does not, on its own, fix retention: a higher wage in a metro where infant tuition is $25,000+ a year still doesn't make a center teacher's life affordable.
Family Strain — 65/100
Illinois mothers of children under six participate in the labor force at 71.5% — three points above the 68.2% national rate but below the high-LFP Midwest pattern set by Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Single-parent households make up 31.3% of families with kids under 18, essentially identical to the 31.8% national figure. The Family Strain dimension is one of two pulling Illinois's overall ranking up out of the bottom tier. The relatively high mothers' LFP is partly a function of the state's metro-heavy economic geography — Chicago's labor market still rewards two-earner households despite the childcare math, and the consequence is that more families absorb the squeeze rather than dropping a second income.
Policy Support — 50/100
Illinois enrolls 35% of 4-year-olds in state pre-K and a notably high 24% of 3-year-olds — the second figure pulls the state above the regional norm and reflects sustained investment in early-education access. Per-child pre-K spending reaches $6,171, with the program meeting 8 of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks. CCDF subsidies reach 20.1% of eligible children (about 59,200 monthly), a smaller share than Iowa, Indiana, or Ohio achieve. Illinois has no paid family leave program; new parents rely on FMLA's unpaid 12 weeks. Head Start serves an additional 28,779 children. Policy is competent rather than excellent — strong on pre-K access, average on subsidies, absent on leave.
City spotlight
Naperville scores 62/100 — the highest score of any Illinois city — and ranks #33 of 250 nationally. The DuPage County household-income base (well above state median) shifts cost-as-share-of-income meaningfully despite the high absolute price tag. Chicago scores 44/100 (Strained, #177 nationally), the largest population center in the state and one of three Beverly anchor cities here. Rockford scores 36/100 (Strained, #232 nationally) — the lowest-ranked Illinois city, where the median household income is the binding constraint rather than the price tag. The spread between Naperville and Rockford captures the state in microcosm: Illinois isn't one childcare market; it's at least three.
In-home care in Illinois
Beverly Research perspective: Illinois has the most developed in-home care market of any Midwestern state, anchored by the Chicago metro's depth of demand and a mature placement-agency ecosystem. Full-time live-out nanny rates in the Chicago region typically run $25-35/hour for one child — comparable to East Coast secondary metros and meaningfully above the national median. Outside Chicago, rates compress quickly: the Naperville-DuPage corridor and the North Shore see Chicago-equivalent pricing, while downstate metros (Springfield, Peoria, Rockford) operate closer to $18-25/hour bands. Nanny shares between two families have grown notably in the last 36 months as a response to center waitlists, particularly for infants in Cook and Lake Counties. Au pair placements remain concentrated in households where one parent works for a multinational employer; the J-1 visa program's $30K all-in cost has limited broader uptake.
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). State-level prices and supply use population-weighted county aggregates. 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).