As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Springfield ranks the 173rd largest city in the nation.
Springfield posts the strongest workforce reading of any city in this Northeast cluster — and one of the strongest in the country. The median local childcare worker earns 75% of a single-adult living wage, against a national field where most peers earn under 60%. The workforce thrives because the cost of living in Hampden County is closer to what childcare educators actually take home. The same arithmetic punishes families: a city median household income of $51,339, just over half the state median, turns Massachusetts' lowest infant-care price tag — $21,316 — into 41.5% of typical earnings. Sixty percent of families with children are headed by a single parent. The city ranks 206th of 250 nationally.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- Ranked 206th of 250 nationally, score 41 (Strained); bottom 18% of US cities and second-lowest in Massachusetts.
- Infant center seat: $21,316 a year — Massachusetts' lowest posted price, but 41.5% of a $51,339 median income; childcare costs 1.6x annual rent.
- Workforce score 98.8/100, strongest in cluster and among the strongest nationally; educators earn 75% of local living wage.
Actionable takeaways
- Don't read the 99 workforce score as a model to export. Springfield's educators clear 75% of a Hampden County living wage because the cost base is low — same arithmetic that drops affordability to 2/100 for families. The wage is not "good"; the floor is low.
- The local angle is Massachusetts' lowest sticker price still being unaffordable. $21,316 is the cheapest infant seat in the MA cohort, but on a $51,339 median income it consumes 41.5% of pay. State price comparisons mislead here — burden ratio is the honest metric.
- What to track. Springfield's 60% single-parent share is the highest in the MA cluster. Watch MassHealth and DTA data on western Mass household formation in 2026 — Springfield is where any Massachusetts subsidy expansion would show first.
Affordability — 2/100
Springfield's affordability score sits near the floor of the index. A year of infant center care in Hampden County costs about $21,316. The price itself is the lowest of the Massachusetts cities in this cohort. The problem is income: Springfield's median household income is $51,339 — just over half of the state median — and that gap turns a moderate Massachusetts price into one of the heaviest cost burdens in the state. Center care consumes 41.5% of typical household income here, against a Massachusetts state figure of 27.3% and a national 21.9%. Childcare runs about 1.6 times what a Springfield family pays in rent each year. For most households, the math forces a choice between full-time formal care and a parent leaving the workforce.
Supply — 56/100
Hampden County offers about 47 licensed seats for every 100 kids under 5 with working parents — in line with the rest of Massachusetts. Springfield counts roughly 96 licensed establishments serving 10,693 children under 5, which works out to just 3.9 establishments per 1,000 young kids — the thinnest provider density in this cluster. Slots exist; choice is constrained. Combined with the city's affordability profile, supply is functionally tighter than the headline ratio suggests for families looking to match a slot to a specific neighborhood, schedule, or budget.
Workforce — 99/100
Springfield posts the strongest workforce reading in this entire cluster, and one of the strongest in the country. The median childcare worker in the Springfield metro earns $18.04 an hour, or about $37,520 a year, against a local living wage for a single adult of $24.06 — coming out to 75.0% of a living wage. The wage is not generous in absolute terms; what makes Springfield distinctive is that the cost of living here is closer to what childcare educators actually earn. Of every city in this cohort, Springfield's providers come closest to a self-sufficient income.
Family strain — 15.9/100
About 60.3% of Springfield families with children are headed by a single parent — far above the Massachusetts state average of 30% and the national 32%. Mothers with kids under 6 are in the labor force at 64.7%, below the state and national figures. The strain reading is among the lowest in this cluster: a city where the cost of childcare runs into the limits of what single-earner households can absorb, and where lower mothers' labor-force participation likely reflects the result.
Policy support — 61.0/100
Massachusetts delivers Springfield families 12 weeks of paid family leave at 80% wage replacement (effective 2021), 30% of 4-year-olds enrolled in publicly funded pre-K, and CCDF subsidy reach of 17.5%. Given Springfield's income profile and high single-parent share, the city is among the heaviest users of public childcare support in the state. Pre-K enrollment is the strongest in this cluster, but the state's CCDF reach and per-child pre-K spending remain modest.
In-home care in Springfield
In-home care in Springfield typically reflects metro-wide western-Massachusetts patterns, with full-time live-out nanny rates running well below the Boston/Cambridge premium and broadly in line with the surrounding Pioneer Valley market. With center care consuming over 40% of typical household income, nanny shares and family childcare networks are common workarounds for working families. Au pair placements remain a smaller channel, mostly among higher-income households with the housing capacity to host.
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).