As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Manchester ranks the 242nd largest city in the nation.
New Hampshire ranks second nationally on Beverly's state-level State of Childcare index, scoring 81 out of 100. Manchester, the state's largest city and the only one ranked in the 2026 cohort, scores 44 — Strained. The gap is the report. Manchester is genuinely the most affordable infant-care market in this Northeast cluster: $17,680 a year against a $77,415 median household income, eating 22.8% of pretax pay, with childcare and rent running close to even. But the state offers no paid family leave program and zero public pre-K enrollment, the weakest policy backdrop in the cluster. Hillsborough County's median childcare worker earns $14.38 an hour, covering 56% of a single-adult living wage. Affordability and supply hold the state up; the city, once policy and wages enter the picture, does not.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- Ranked 186th of 250 nationally, score 44 (Strained); city sits 37 points below New Hampshire's #2 national state rating, the cohort's sharpest city-vs-state divide.
- Infant center seat: $17,680 a year — most affordable in the cluster, 22.8% of household income; childcare runs roughly even with rent.
- Policy score 29/100, weakest in cluster: zero weeks of state paid family leave, 0% public pre-K enrollment for both 3- and 4-year-olds.
Actionable takeaways
- The lead is the city/state divide. New Hampshire ranks #2 nationally on the state index; Manchester scores 44 — the cohort's sharpest divergence. State rankings built on affordability and supply mask what happens when policy and wages enter the picture in the largest city.
- The structural driver is the policy floor. Zero weeks of state paid leave and 0% public pre-K enrollment is the cohort's worst stack — and these are levers a state legislature can change. The next NH legislative session is the local journalist's deadline.
- Watch the workforce. Hillsborough County educators clear just 56% of a single-adult living wage on $14.38/hour — the lowest workforce reading in the cluster. Manchester's supply abundance depends on a workforce that, if it churns, takes the supply story down with it.
Affordability — 38/100
Manchester is the most affordable infant-care market in this entire ten-city cohort. A year of center-based infant care here runs about $17,680 — well below the Massachusetts and Connecticut prices crowding the rest of this cluster, and only slightly above the national median of $17,163. Set against the city's $77,415 median household income, that comes out to 22.8% of earnings — close to the national average and well under most New England readings. Childcare runs about even with rent, dollar-for-dollar over a year. Manchester is not affordable in the absolute sense — childcare still consumes more than a fifth of household income — but in the context of New England, it is a noticeable outlier in the friendlier direction.
Supply — 79/100
Hillsborough County posts the strongest supply reading in this cluster: about 51 licensed seats per 100 kids under 5 with working parents — better than any of the Massachusetts or Connecticut cities ranked here. Manchester counts roughly 136 licensed establishments serving 5,667 children under 5, working out to 6.3 establishments per 1,000 young kids. New Hampshire's broader market posts a 7.4 figure, the densest in the country. For Manchester families, slots exist and provider options are more abundant than the regional norm.
Workforce — 16/100
Manchester posts the weakest workforce reading in this cluster. The median childcare worker in the Manchester-Nashua metro earns $14.38 an hour, or about $29,910 a year — well below the state and national figures and not enough to cover 60% of the local living wage. At 56.2% of a living wage, providers here earn less, relative to local cost of living, than providers in Boston, Cambridge, Worcester, or any of the Connecticut cities. Low wages on this scale drive the same outcomes everywhere: turnover, classroom instability, and chronic difficulty staffing infant rooms — which require the highest staff-to-child ratios.
Family strain — 38.2/100
About 43.1% of Manchester families with children are headed by a single parent — well above the New Hampshire state average of 27%. Mothers with kids under 6 are in the labor force at 68.6%, almost exactly the national figure but below the state's 73.6%. Manchester carries a higher solo-parenting load than the rest of New Hampshire, with the strain that implies. The city does not look like the rest of the state on this measure.
Policy support — 29.0/100
Manchester inherits the weakest state policy backdrop of any city in this cluster. New Hampshire offers no statewide paid family leave program and 0% public pre-K enrollment for both 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds. CCDF subsidy reach is 17%, in line with Massachusetts but below Connecticut. The state's overall score ranks #2 in the country largely on affordability and supply strengths — but on the policy-support dimension, New Hampshire is a national outlier in the other direction, and Manchester families absorb that gap directly. Policy is measured at the state level.
In-home care in Manchester
In-home care in Manchester typically reflects southern New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts nanny market patterns, with full-time live-out rates running below greater Boston but above the broader New England average. Many Manchester-area families compete for caregivers with the same labor pool that supplies Lowell and the northern Boston suburbs. Nanny shares and family childcare arrangements are common, particularly given New Hampshire's lack of public pre-K. Au pair placements remain a steady channel for families 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).