As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Topeka ranks the 219th largest city in the nation.

Center-based infant care in Topeka costs $7,477 a year — the cheapest figure in the entire 250-city index outside Jackson, Mississippi, and roughly 56% below the national median. That headline is what places Kansas's capital first in the state at 64/100 and 23rd nationally, with an Affordability score of 90. But the same Shawnee County math has a second side. Forty-three percent of Topeka families with children are headed by a single parent, the highest share in Kansas. Mothers' labor force participation for kids under six runs 75% against a $55,902 median household income — the lowest in the cluster — and reads as economic necessity rather than abundance. Topeka's affordability advantage matters most for the families carrying the entire weight alone.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

First in Kansas, score 64 (Moderate), ranked 23 of 250; Affordability score 90/100, among the strongest nationally.
Center-based infant care runs $7,477 a year — the cheapest figure in the index outside Jackson, MS, and 56% below the national median.
Single-parent share 43%, the highest in Kansas; Family Strain pulled to 56/100 despite the favorable cost picture.

Actionable takeaways

Topeka's $7,477 infant tuition is the second-cheapest in the entire 250-city dataset. Only Jackson, MS prices lower. The local angle is what Shawnee County providers know about cost structure that Sedgwick (Wichita) and Wyandotte (KCK) do not — provider revenue models are likely lower across the board.
Don't read the cheapest price as universally affordable. Against a $55,902 household income — lowest in the Kansas cluster — Topeka's burden ratio still hits 13.4%, nearly double the federal 7% benchmark. Low absolute price plus low absolute income is its own pattern.
The 43% single-parent share is the structural driver of family strain at 56. State-government employment provides Topeka stability but doesn't lower the share of households running pickup logistics on one adult — KS Department for Children and Families data could ground a follow-up.

Affordability — 90/100

A typical Topeka family with one infant in center care pays $7,477 a year, the median for Shawnee County. That's the second-lowest infant center figure in the entire 250-city index — behind only Jackson, MS at $6,754 — and roughly 56% below the national median of $17,163. Against a household income of $55,902, it absorbs 13.4% of pre-tax earnings — still nearly double the federal affordability benchmark of 7%, but the absolute dollars are unusually manageable. Center care here costs about 66 cents on the dollar against the city's $947 monthly rent — the friendliest cost-to-rent ratio of any city in this cluster. Toddler care comes in at $8,190; family child care for an infant is $6,939. For a Topeka family with two children in center care, the line item runs roughly $15,000 — still meaningful, but far closer to manageable than the $30,000+ figures in Johnson County. The reasons are partly structural: lower wages across the local provider workforce, lower commercial rents, and a labor market that doesn't bid up center director salaries the way Kansas City does.

Supply — 41/100

Shawnee County has an estimated 5,504 licensed slots against roughly 13,100 kids under five with working parents — about 42 slots per 100 children, the same ratio that holds across most Kansas counties. The county runs 32 licensed centers, or 3.1 establishments per 1,000 kids under five, slightly above the rest of Kansas but still below the national density of 4.2. The Bipartisan Policy Center pegs the statewide gap at 38.5%; Topeka families face the same waitlist dynamics as the rest of the state, particularly for infant rooms.

Workforce — 80/100

The median Topeka childcare worker earns $13.86 an hour, or about $28,830 a year. Against the local single-adult living wage of $20.84, that's 67% — the strongest wage-to-living-wage ratio in this cluster and one of the better marks in the index. Topeka's lower cost of living narrows the gap even though absolute wages are below national norms. The workforce score of 80/100 reflects that comparative compression rather than absolute prosperity; even Topeka childcare workers can't comfortably live alone on their wages, but the gap is narrower here than in almost any Midwest city.

Family strain — 56/100

Mothers' labor force participation in Topeka households with children under six runs 75%, well above both the state average of 70% and the national 68%. With a $55,902 median household income — the lowest in this Kansas cluster — that participation reads as economic necessity. The single-parent share runs 43%, the highest of any Kansas city in this index and roughly 11 points above the national average. For four in ten Topeka children, a single adult carries the entire weight of cost, scheduling, and pickup logistics — and the city's affordability advantage matters most for exactly those households.

Policy support — 44/100

Kansas enrolls 45% of 4-year-olds in state pre-K, with 6 of 10 NIEER quality benchmarks met and per-child spending of $4,562. The state offers no paid family leave, and CCDF subsidy reach covers an estimated 16.5% of eligible families. Head Start serves about 6,400 children statewide. As the state capital, Topeka sits at the center of these decisions; the data, however, applies equally to every Kansas city and is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Topeka

In-home care in Topeka typically reflects metro-wide nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates running below the national median and roughly in line with the broader Kansas market. Given the city's unusually friendly center prices, in-home care is a smaller share of the local mix than in higher-cost metros — but families with non-traditional schedules, particularly state government workers and Stormont Vail healthcare staff, sometimes turn to nanny shares as a way to maintain consistent coverage during shift work or legislative sessions.

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.