As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Amarillo ranks the 122nd largest city in the nation.

In the Texas Panhandle's commercial seat, a year of infant center care runs $10,320 — the second-cheapest in this Texas cluster — against a median household income of $62,469, well below state and national figures. Childcare workers earn $12.58 an hour, a low absolute wage, but against an $18.59 single-adult living wage that pay covers 67.7% of basic costs, well above the 62.6% national figure. The math here doesn't reflect higher wages so much as a lower local cost floor; the result is the same — better retention, the foundation under everything else in a center. Amarillo scores 62/100, ranking 38th nationally, the strongest non-DFW score in this Texas cluster. Mothers of children under six work at 68.9%, above the national rate, and 35.5% of households with kids are headed by a single parent.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

38th nationally, score 62 (Moderate) — strongest non-DFW score in the Texas cluster, anchored by Workforce 83/100.
Childcare wage covers 67.7% of a $18.59 single-adult living wage — well above the 62.6% national figure.
Infant care $10,320 a year — second-cheapest in the Texas cluster after Waco and Brownsville.

Actionable takeaways

Amarillo and Lubbock together prove the Panhandle pattern. Both Strong-tier cities, both anchored by lower cost floors that lift the workforce ratio above the national average. Reporters can frame the West Texas/Panhandle wage geography as a quietly functional model, even without policy support.
Establishment density is the leading risk. At 2.11 providers per 1,000 — the lowest in this Texas cluster — Amarillo's rank could erode quickly if even a handful of centers close; supply is thin, not strong.
The 35.5% single-parent share carries the strain story. With elevated single-parent households absorbing the same metro-wide care logistics, follow-ups should ask Potter County family courts and CCDF caseworkers about subsidy uptake and waitlist length.

Affordability — 77/100

A year of infant center care in Amarillo costs about $10,320, drawn from US Department of Labor pricing for Potter County. Toddler care averages $9,462 annually; family child care for an infant runs roughly $9,014.

Amarillo's median household income is $62,469, well below both the Texas median of $76,292 and the national median of $78,538. Even with the lower price point, infant center care consumes 16.5% of typical household income — slightly worse than the 15.6% Texas average but well below the 21.9% national figure.

Childcare runs about 82 cents on every dollar of rent in Amarillo — high relative to wealthier Texas cities, but the absolute dollar figure is roughly $2,800 less per year than a DFW family pays for the same care type.

Supply — 46/100

Potter County, Amarillo's county of record, supports about 56 licensed slots per 100 children under five with working parents — well under the national 73. Establishment density runs 2.11 licensed providers per 1,000 children under five, the lowest in this Texas cluster and well below the national 4.2.

The county avoids formal "childcare desert" classification but reads as supply-constrained, particularly given the relatively small total establishment count. Amarillo families tend to rely more on family child care and informal kin care than households in larger Texas metros.

Workforce — 83/100

This is Amarillo's standout dimension. Childcare workers in the Amarillo metro earn a median $12.58 an hour — lower in absolute terms than DFW or the national average. But against the local single-adult living wage of $18.59 an hour, that pay covers 67.7% of basic costs, well above the 62.6% national figure and the 63.0% Texas average.

The math here doesn't reflect higher wages so much as a lower local cost floor. The result, though, is the same: childcare workers in Amarillo come closer to making the rent than their counterparts in most US cities, which translates to materially better retention — the foundation under everything else in a center.

Family strain — 52.0/100

Mothers of children under six in Amarillo participate in the labor force at 68.9%, above both the Texas average of 62.8% and the national rate of 68.2%. The single-parent share runs 35.5%, four points above the national average.

The combination — high working-mother participation alongside an elevated single-parent share — describes a city where most parents of young children work and many are doing so without a second adult in the household. Strong workforce retention helps absorb the logistical pressure; relatively low pricing helps too.

Policy support — 48.1/100

Amarillo's policy score is inherited from Texas, which enrolls 52% of four-year-olds in state pre-K, spends $4,682 per pre-K child, and meets two of NIEER's ten quality benchmarks. The CCDF subsidy reaches about 16.4% of eligible Texas children. Texas offers no state-funded paid family leave. Policy is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Amarillo

In-home care in Amarillo typically reflects metro-wide nanny-market patterns at the lower end of the Texas range, given the city's lower cost-of-living floor. Family child care and informal kin care tend to play larger roles than full-time private nanny placements. Au pair placements remain rare outside higher-income households connected to medical, energy, or agribusiness employers.

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.