As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Garland ranks the 93rd largest city in the nation.

In a Dallas County suburb just east of the I-635 loop, a Garland family pays $13,045 a year for infant center care — the same Dallas County tuition that hits every household in the county — against a $74,717 median income, just below Texas and national medians. The result is a 17.5% childcare cost burden, two points above the state average and roughly $325 a month more, in cost share, than a Frisco family of the same composition pays for the same care. Garland scores 56/100 on Beverly's the score, ranking 82nd nationally. Mothers of children under six work at 65.3%, between Texas and national rates. Some households are clearly making the math work — usually with family help, family child care, and patched-together schedules rather than full-cost center placement.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

82nd nationally, score 56 (Moderate); 22nd of 31 in Texas — Dallas County, lowest of the DFW cluster.
Infant care eats 17.5% of $74,717 median income — two points above the state burden on identical Dallas pricing.
Mothers' LFP 65.3%, between Texas (62.8%) and national (68.2%); single-parent share 31.84%, near the national norm.

Actionable takeaways

Garland is the DFW metro median, exposed. Same Dallas County tuition as Frisco and Plano, paid on a near-national-median income — the result is a 17.5% burden that quietly tracks the nationwide affordability problem, not Texas's headline numbers.
The household coping strategy is the local story. With supply tight and incomes flat, Garland families are absorbing the burden through family care, FCC homes, and split schedules. Reporters should interview Garland ISD pre-K coordinators and faith-based providers on how many kids cycle through informal care before kindergarten.
Garland is the cleanest contrast city for any "Frisco/McKinney/Plano" feature. Reporters covering the Collin trio's affordability story should pair it with Garland to show that DFW pricing is constant and the difference is who gets to live across which county line.

Affordability — 78/100

A year of infant center care in Garland costs about $13,045, drawn from US Department of Labor pricing for Dallas County. Toddler care averages $11,836 annually; family child care for an infant is slightly cheaper at roughly $11,203.

Garland's median household income is $74,717, just below both the Texas median of $76,292 and the national median of $78,538. That income gap pushes the local affordability burden to 17.5% of typical household income for infant center care — meaningfully heavier than the 15.6% Texas average and approaching the 21.9% national figure.

For a Garland family earning the local median, infant care costs roughly $325 more per month than for a Frisco family of the same household composition — driven entirely by the income gap, not by price. Childcare runs about 71 cents on every dollar of rent here.

Supply — 53/100

Dallas County, Garland's county of record, supports about 56 licensed slots per 100 children under five with working parents — well under the national average of 73. Establishment density runs 2.75 licensed providers per 1,000 children under five, below both Texas (3.2) and the national average (4.2).

Dallas County is not formally a "childcare desert," but it operates with materially less density than the wealthier Collin County to the north. The supply gap presses hardest on infant and toddler rooms, where post-pandemic waiting lists have stayed long across central DFW.

Workforce — 33/100

Childcare workers in the Dallas-Plano-Irving metro earn a median $14.31 an hour, about $29,760 a year. Against a single-adult living wage of $24.14, that wage covers 59.3% of what one adult needs to support themselves locally.

The metro-wide wage holds back retention in every DFW city, but Garland's centers, operating on price points constrained by local incomes, have less room to compete on pay. Texas provides no state wage supplement, leaving turnover as the main release valve for under-funded provider economics.

Family strain — 48.6/100

Mothers of children under six in Garland participate in the labor force at 65.27%, above the Texas state average of 62.8% but below the national rate of 68.2%. The single-parent share sits at 31.84%, almost exactly the national share of 31.8%.

The labor force read here is more functional than in Irving but still shows access friction. With infant care eating roughly a sixth of the median household budget and supply limited, some Garland households are clearly making the math work — though usually with a combination of family help, family child care, and patched-together schedules rather than full-cost center placement.

Policy support — 48.1/100

Garland'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 Garland

In-home care in Garland typically reflects metro-wide DFW nanny-market patterns, with full-time live-out rates in line with the broader Texas market. Nanny shares between two families are a meaningful cost-management tactic given local affordability pressure, particularly for infant care. Au pair placements remain niche but appear among households needing live-in coverage for nontraditional schedules in nearby industrial and logistics 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.