As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Irving ranks the 88th largest city in the nation.

An Irving family pays the same $13,045 a year for infant center care as one in McKinney to the north — and earns roughly two-thirds the income. Median household income here is $79,641, close to the national figure but well below the Collin County corridor's six-figure suburbs. The arithmetic produces a 16.4% childcare cost burden and a 57/100 score on Beverly's the score, ranking 75th nationally. The most striking number, though, is participation: only 55.3% of Irving mothers with children under six are in the labor force, roughly thirteen points below the national rate. In a metro where DFW center wages can't easily underwrite full-cost private care, the second earner often steps back. Same prices, very different incomes.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

75th nationally, score 57 (Moderate); 21st of 31 in Texas — Dallas County, behind the Collin corridor.
Mothers' LFP 55.3%, 13 points below the national rate — a clear access-friction signal.
Same $13,045 Dallas County tuition as McKinney, paid on roughly two-thirds the income; 16.4% burden vs. McKinney's 10.9%.

Actionable takeaways

Irving is the Dallas County mirror of the Collin trio. The same DFW metro-wide $14.31 wage and the same Dallas County tuition produce a 21st-of-31 ranking instead of a top-10 finish — the only variable is income. The story is access friction, not policy.
The 13-point mothers' labor-force gap should anchor any local follow-up. A 55.3% participation rate in a city with national-median incomes signals that childcare access — not preference — is keeping second earners home; reporters can interview HR managers at the major Las Colinas employers about parental retention.
Watch DFW Airport-corridor center supply. Irving sits below the Texas establishment-density baseline, and infant rooms are the binding constraint; new openings near Las Colinas would meaningfully change the burden number.

Affordability — 84/100

A year of infant center care in Irving 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 runs roughly $11,203.

Irving's median household income is $79,641 — close to the national median of $78,538 and just above the Texas median of $76,292. That puts infant care at 16.4% of typical household income locally, slightly worse than the Texas state burden of 15.6% but materially better than the 21.9% national average.

The shape of the burden differs from neighboring Collin County: same prices, very different incomes. A typical Irving family pays the same $13,000-plus for infant care as a McKinney family, but on roughly two-thirds the income.

Supply — 53/100

Dallas County, Irving's county of record, supports about 56 licensed slots per 100 children under five with working parents — well under the national 73 and below what Texas needs to consider itself adequately supplied. 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 avoids the formal "childcare desert" designation but operates with notably less density than the wealthier Collin County to the north. Supply pressure here lands hardest on infant and toddler rooms, where waiting lists in central DFW have been a chronic feature of the post-pandemic market.

Workforce — 33/100

Childcare workers across the Dallas-Plano-Irving metro earn a median $14.31 an hour, or 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.

This is the same metro-wide wage that holds back scores in Frisco and McKinney, but its consequences land harder in Irving, where centers operate on tighter price points and have less room to compete on pay. Texas offers no state wage supplement, so the gap is absorbed by the providers themselves — typically through turnover.

Family strain — 40.4/100

Mothers of children under six in Irving participate in the labor force at 55.27%, well below the national rate of 68.2% and the Texas state average of 62.8%. The single-parent share sits at 27.05%, slightly under the national share of 31.8%.

The maternal participation gap is the most striking number in this report: roughly one in four mothers of young children who work nationally are not in the Irving workforce. In a city with median incomes near the national norm, that signals access friction — not preference. When affordable, available slots are scarce and metro wages don't easily underwrite full-cost private care, the second earner often steps back.

Policy support — 48.1/100

Irving'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 Irving

In-home care in Irving 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 tactic for splitting infant-care costs in a city where center rooms are scarce and household incomes don't easily absorb full private rates. Au pair placements appear in pockets, particularly in households drawn to predictable weekly costs and live-in flexibility for nontraditional work hours.

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.