As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Kansas has 5 cities among the largest 250 in the nation.
A center-based infant slot in Kansas costs $10,759 a year — the second-cheapest in the Midwest and small enough that a typical family pays less for childcare than for rent. Kansas is also the state with the lowest licensed-establishment density in the 12-state Midwest cohort: 2.65 facilities per 1,000 children under five, half the rate in Nebraska. Affordability scores 84/100; supply scores 6. The state finishes 24th on the 2026 index, in the middle of the pack but on a sharply uneven footing. The Kansas problem is not what childcare costs but whether a slot is available at all — a "drought without a price symptom" that the standard cost-burden metrics do not pick up.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- Moderate (52/100), ranked 24th nationally — middle of the pack, but on the most uneven dimension split in the Midwest.
- Affordability scores 84/100 (infant care 14.8% of median income) against a Crisis-tier 6/100 on supply — the second-cheapest tuition in the region.
- Establishment density of 2.65 per 1,000 kids under five is the lowest in the Midwest; a slot drought without a price symptom.
Affordability — 84/100
A center-based infant slot in Kansas runs $10,759 a year — more than $6,400 cheaper than the $17,163 national figure and the second-lowest state average in the Midwest after South Dakota. At 14.8% of the $72,639 median household income, infant care lands well below both the 21.9% national rate and the federal 7%-of-income affordability benchmark, though still above it. The childcare-to-rent ratio sits at 0.87 — the only Midwestern state besides South Dakota where the typical family pays less in monthly childcare than in monthly rent. Toddler care runs $10,519; preschool, $8,658. Family child care takes the price down further to $8,317 for infants. Kansas families don't have a price problem in the way that Indiana, Wisconsin, or Minnesota families do. The state's 84/100 affordability score is the second-highest in the Midwest. The friction in Kansas isn't what childcare costs — it's whether you can find a slot at all.
Supply — 6/100
Kansas operates 476 licensed childcare establishments at 2.65 per 1,000 children under five, the lowest density in the 12-state Midwest cohort and one of the weakest in the country. Licensed slots total 94,020 against 146,710 children with potential need — a 38.5% gap, more than ten points wider than the 27% national rate. The state's Crisis-tier 6/100 Supply score is the dominant constraint on the overall ranking. The pattern is what economists call a "slot drought without a price symptom" — capacity is tight enough that families either find something or go without, but because the underlying price level is low, the standard cost-burden metrics don't capture the reality. The Wichita and Kansas City metros carry the state's larger center capacity; rural counties have lost home-based providers steadily, and in much of western Kansas, regulated childcare is functionally unavailable.
Workforce — 55/100
The median Kansas childcare worker earns $13.84 an hour — about $1.60 below the $15.41 national median and 64.0% of the $21.63 living wage for a single adult in the state. That share is essentially identical to the 62.6% national figure. Annual median pay sits at $28,800 across 7,180 workers in the occupation. The Workforce dimension comes in slightly above the national midpoint, but the absolute wage is low enough that recruitment into the field — particularly into the rural areas where supply is thinnest — remains the binding constraint on capacity expansion. The dimension does not, on its own, distinguish Kansas from peer states.
Family Strain — 66/100
Kansas mothers of children under six participate in the labor force at 70.4% — two points above the 68.2% national rate. Single-parent households make up 29.3% of families with kids under 18, below the 31.8% national figure and reflecting the state's relatively married-household demographic profile. The Family Strain score lands in solidly Moderate territory, with neither metric pulling the dimension into trouble. The pattern matches the broader Plains norm: working mothers, lower single-parent share, and informal childcare networks that still function in smaller communities.
Policy Support — 48/100
Kansas enrolls 45% of 4-year-olds in state pre-K and 21% of 3-year-olds — middling enrollment with $4,562 per-child spending and 6 of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks met. CCDF subsidies reach 16.5% of eligible children (about 12,400 monthly), one of the lower coverage rates in the Midwest. The state has no paid family leave program. Head Start serves 6,437 children. Policy Support sits just below the national midpoint and reflects a state that has made measured rather than ambitious investments in childcare infrastructure.
City spotlight
Topeka scores 64/100 — the highest score of any Kansas city — and ranks #23 of 250 nationally. The combination of below-state-average pricing and middle-of-the-road household income lands Topeka comfortably in Moderate-tier territory. Overland Park scores 64/100 (#25 nationally), with high household incomes in Johnson County offsetting Kansas City metro pricing. Olathe scores 63/100 (#28 nationally), tracking closely to its Johnson County peer. At the lower end, Kansas City scores 45/100 (#168 nationally) — the Wyandotte County household-income base is the binding constraint that pulls the city out of step with the rest of the state.
In-home care in Kansas
Beverly Research perspective: Kansas's in-home care market is concentrated in the Kansas City metro (split between the Johnson County suburbs in Kansas and the Missouri side) and, to a lesser extent, in the Wichita metro. Full-time live-out nanny rates in the Kansas City metro typically run $20-28/hour for one child — slightly above the national mid-tier. Outside the two main metros, the in-home market thins quickly; rural Kansas families seeking individualized care more often rely on family caregivers or part-time arrangements rather than formal nanny placements. Nanny shares between two families have begun to appear in Johnson County as a workaround for thin infant capacity at higher-end centers. The state's relatively low cost of regulated care means in-home care competes against a cheaper baseline than in most Midwestern states, narrowing the per-family economic case.
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).