As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Omaha ranks the 40th largest city in the nation.

Douglas County offers 61 licensed slots for every 100 kids under five with working parents — among the strongest ratios in the Midwest 3 cohort — and operates 271 licensed establishments, or 6.6 per thousand kids, well above the national density. Nebraska's statewide supply gap of 14.7% is the second-smallest in the cluster. That foundation is what carries Omaha to 57/100 (Moderate, 75th of 250), even with infant tuition of $17,215 a year consuming 23.7% of a $72,708 median household income and a workforce score of 55 — the widest wage-to-living-wage gap in the cohort. The structural reading: Omaha's strong supply was built and maintained at low operating wages, and any meaningful upward pressure on educator pay will require either higher tuition or larger state subsidies, neither readily available.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Score 57/100, Moderate, ranked 75 of 250 — second of two Nebraska cities; supply score 95, infant care consumes 23.7% of household income.
Douglas County offers 61 licensed slots per 100 working-parent kids under five — among the strongest ratios in the cohort.
Sits in Nebraska, ranked 9th nationally; workforce score 55 — the widest wage-to-living-wage gap in the Midwest 3 cohort.

Actionable takeaways

The structural driver is supply built on suppressed wages. Omaha's 95 supply score and 6.6-per-1,000 establishment density coexist with the cohort's widest wage-to-living-wage gap (62.1%). Any meaningful pay increase for educators requires either tuition hikes Omaha households can't easily absorb or state subsidy growth Nebraska hasn't historically provided.
Compare to Lincoln, the only other Nebraska city. Same state policy backdrop, different income and demographics — the Douglas-Lancaster comparison is the cleanest in-state case study available.
Watch Nebraska's 34% pre-K access against the cohort. Triple Missouri's figure, well above peers — but no state paid leave undercuts the early-months experience. UNO's Buffett Early Childhood Institute publishes the local follow-up data.

Affordability — 27/100

A typical Omaha family pays $17,215 a year for one infant in a licensed Douglas County center — about $1,435 a month, or 23.7% of the area's $72,708 median household income. The dollar figure sits a hair above the national center median of $17,163 but below the Twin Cities and Midwestern coastal benchmarks. Family child care homes price at $11,876 for an infant, providing a meaningful release valve. The childcare-to-rent ratio is 1.25 — center care costs 25% more than monthly rent. For an Omaha family with two children in licensed centers, the annual outlay reaches about $33,100, which on the median income lands close to 46% of pre-tax earnings — substantial but more manageable than in cities where infant care alone consumes a third of household income.

Supply — 95/100

Douglas County offers an estimated 61 licensed slots for every 100 children under five with working parents — among the strongest ratios in the Midwest 3 cohort and well above the national average across all 250 indexed cities. The county has 271 licensed establishments, or 6.6 per 1,000 children under five, comfortably above the national density of 4.2. Nebraska statewide has just a 14.7% supply gap per Bipartisan Policy Center estimates — among the smallest gaps of any state in this cohort. The supply score of 95 is the dimension carrying Omaha's overall ranking; even with a soft workforce score, the city has materially more capacity per kid than most US peers.

Workforce — 55/100

The median Omaha childcare worker earns $14.25 an hour, or $29,640 a year — covering 62.1% of the local single-adult living wage of $22.95. That gap is the widest in the Midwest 3 cohort and the binding constraint on Omaha's score. The Nebraska statewide picture is similar: the state's workforce dimension scores in the low 50s. The structural reading is that Omaha's strong supply was built and maintained at low operating wages, and any meaningful upward pressure on educator pay will require either higher tuition (politically difficult) or larger state subsidies (currently modest).

Family strain — 67/100

Mothers' labor force participation for those with kids under six is 72.8% — above the national rate of 68% and consistent with the broader Nebraska pattern. The single-parent share is 34.5%, modestly above the national 31.8%. Together, these numbers describe a city where two-earner married and single-parent households together comprise the dominant childcare-needing population, and where labor force engagement is the rule rather than the exception. The 67 score positions Omaha near the middle of this cohort on the strain dimension.

Policy support — 45/100

Nebraska enrolls about 34% of four-year-olds in state-funded pre-K — among the strongest pre-K access rates in the Midwest cohort and more than three times Missouri's figure. The state meets 6 of 10 NIEER quality benchmarks. The CCDF subsidy reaches 22.7% of eligible children. Nebraska offers no state paid family or medical leave, which is a meaningful gap for new-parent families. The strong pre-K access component is what pulls the overall policy score above its peers; the absence of paid leave is what holds it down. Policy is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Omaha

In-home care in Omaha reflects metro-wide nanny market patterns broadly in line with mid-sized Midwestern markets. With center care relatively well-supplied here, demand for in-home care concentrates among households with two or more young children, dual-professional couples seeking schedule flexibility, and families with atypical work hours that center hours cannot accommodate. Au pair placements are a small but visible slice of the market. Nanny shares between two families are an emerging arrangement, particularly among households comparing the math against tandem center tuition.

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.