As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Laredo ranks the 87th largest city in the nation.
On the Rio Grande border 150 miles upriver from McAllen, a Webb County childcare worker earns a median $10.32 an hour — about $21,470 a year, the second-lowest absolute wage in Beverly's 2026 the score. Infant center care runs $9,517 annually, the lowest in the Texas cluster, and consumes 15.0% of the city's $63,264 median household income. Yet only 52.5% of Laredo mothers with children under six are in the labor force, the lowest reading in the Texas cluster and one of the lowest in the country. Cheap care has not generated a workable second-income trade for many border households; extended-family caregiving remains the more common alternative. Laredo scores 51/100 — Moderate tier — ranking 122nd nationally.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- 122nd nationally, score 51 (Moderate) — Webb County border city.
- Childcare wage $10.32/hour — second-lowest in the 250-city dataset, paired with McAllen down the Rio Grande.
- Mothers' LFP 52.5% — the lowest in the Texas cluster; cheap care doesn't produce a workable second-income trade.
Actionable takeaways
- Laredo is the country's second-lowest absolute childcare wage, after McAllen. The two Rio Grande border cities define the lower bound of the U.S. wage distribution for early educators. Reporters covering wage policy or workforce development should treat the pair as a single regional case.
- Cheap care without a workable second-income trade is the core finding. The 52.5% mothers' labor-force rate inside the lowest-tuition Texas market shows that low prices don't automatically produce participation; extended-family caregiving and cross-border arrangements absorb demand that would go to centers elsewhere.
- Webb County's classroom instability is the under-reported story. A 2.8/100 workforce score implies severe turnover — local follow-ups should ask how often Laredo infant rooms close mid-week and how many providers have lost staff to retail or hospitality jobs paying $13-$15.
Affordability — 85/100
A year of full-time infant center care in Webb County runs $9,517 — the lowest absolute price in the Texas cluster and roughly $7,600 below the national average. The figure consumes 15.0% of Laredo's $63,264 median household income — the lightest infant-care cost-burden of any major Texas city. Toddler care is $8,753; preschool, $8,124; family child care infant care, $8,355.
Childcare-to-rent runs 0.79 — the typical family's rent ($1,001/month) still exceeds tuition. A Laredo family with one infant in center care pays roughly $2,400 less per year than the Texas state median. The Affordability score of 84.7/100 is among the strongest in the Texas cluster, reflecting the regional wage and real estate cost structure flowing through to provider prices.
Supply — 56/100
Webb County has roughly 15,200 licensed slots and 27,300 children under 5 with working parents — the same Texas-wide ratio of 56 slots per 100 kids in need. The county's 67 licensed establishments work out to 3.03 per 1,000 children under 5 — close to the Texas state figure of 3.17 and well below the national rate of 4.21.
Workforce — 3/100
The median Webb County childcare worker earns $10.32/hour — about $21,470 a year — or 52.4% of the local living wage of $19.71/hour. The dollar wage is one of the two lowest in any U.S. city in the index, paired with McAllen-Edinburg-Mission roughly 150 miles east. The Workforce Health score of 2.8/100 is the worst in the Texas cluster and among the worst nationally.
The reading describes a labor market where early educators are paid roughly half of what an independent adult needs to live in the city — and the practical consequence is severe provider turnover, classroom instability, and the chronic erosion of the relationship-based caregiving young children depend on. The structural gap explains why a city with cheap absolute prices can still rank in the bottom third of Texas: the workforce dimension is doing meaningful damage to the composite.
Family strain — 26/100
Mothers' labor force participation among kids under 6 sits at 52.5% in Laredo — the lowest in the Texas cluster and one of the lowest readings in the entire 250-city dataset. Single-parent households make up 35.9% of families with kids — above the national average. The combination drives the Family Strain score down to 25.7/100.
The low mothers' LFP figure is consistent with a city where the cost-and-supply math, even with low absolute prices, still does not produce a workable second-income trade for many households — and where extended-family caregiving traditions remain a more common alternative to formal center care.
Policy support — 48/100
Inherited from Texas. The state enrolls 52% of 4-year-olds in public pre-K and 11% of 3-year-olds at $4,682 per child, meets 2 of NIEER's 10 quality benchmarks, reaches 16.4% of eligible children with CCDF subsidies, and offers zero weeks of paid family leave.
In-home care in Laredo
In-home care in Laredo typically reflects the broader South Texas border-region nanny market, with full-time live-out rates well below the rates seen in the major Texas metros. Cross-border household help arrangements are part of the local labor market context, particularly for daily commuter workers from Nuevo Laredo under appropriate authorization. Au pair placements through the State Department's J-1 program remain a niche option for the city's professional households.
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).