As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, Alexandria ranks the 171st largest city in the nation.

An Alexandria family with one infant in a center pays $29,455 a year — about $2,455 a month, more than rent. The tuition swallows 25.9% of the city's $113,638 median household income, and Alexandria's affordability score, 24/100, is the lowest of any Virginia city in the index. Yet 77% of mothers with children under six work, among the highest rates in any large American city, and the city ranks ninety-fifth on supply density. A score of 55/100 places it fourth in Virginia. Geographically compact, transit-connected, and ringed by Pentagon-adjacent employer programs, Alexandria has built a market that runs at high volume for dual-professional federal households and prices out almost everyone else.

Key highlights & actionable takeaways

Fourth in Virginia, score 55 (Moderate) — Supply 95/100 props up Affordability 24/100, the state's lowest.
Infant care: $29,455 a year, 25.9% of $113,638 median income; tuition exceeds rent at a 1.21 ratio.
Mothers' workforce participation 77.18%, among the highest in the 250-city dataset; dual-professional federal households dominate.

Actionable takeaways

Alexandria runs the same Northern Virginia inverse-Bay-Area pattern as Arlington — at slightly less elite incomes. $113K median income still produces a 25.9% burden, four points above the national figure. Reporters should pair Alexandria with Arlington as the dataset's clearest "high supply, elite incomes, still unaffordable" case.
The 7.21 establishments per 1,000 kids is the supply story. Compact, transit-connected, and ringed with employer programs — Alexandria built the supply infrastructure that most U.S. cities don't have. Local follow-ups should ask Pentagon employer benefits teams how their on-site/contract care fits into the licensed-civilian count.
Au pair and nanny-share economics flip here too. When tuition tops $29K and rent runs $2,031, predictable au pair stipends become competitive math. Local follow-ups should pull DC-area J-1 sponsor agency placement counts.

Affordability — 24/100

For an Alexandria family with one infant in a center, childcare costs about $29,455 a year — roughly $2,455 a month, or 25.9% of the city's $113,638 median household income. That tuition is among the highest in the United States, behind only a handful of other Northern Virginia and coastal markets. The childcare-to-rent ratio is 1.21: a single infant slot costs more per month than rent ($2,031). Compared with Virginia statewide ($17,636 average) and the national median ($17,163), Alexandria families pay roughly $12,000 more per child per year — and despite local incomes that run almost $35,000 above the national median, the burden share lands four points higher than the national figure. Family child care homes drop the bill to about $18,454 for an infant; that is still above what most US cities pay for center care.

Supply — 95/100

Alexandria has roughly 76 licensed establishments serving 10,541 children under 5 — about 7.21 establishments per 1,000 kids, nearly double Virginia's statewide density (3.63) and well above the national density (4.21). Density is one of Alexandria's structural strengths: the city is geographically compact, transit-connected, and ringed by employer-sponsored programs that complement licensed civilian centers. On a slots-per-children basis, Alexandria still trails the ideal, but the supply infrastructure makes program-shopping a real option for most families — a luxury not available to most US cities.

Workforce — 25/100

The median Alexandria childcare worker earns $17.05 an hour — well above the Virginia median ($14.49) and the national median ($15.41). But that wage covers just 58.8% of the local single-adult living wage of $29.01, because Alexandria's living costs sit so much higher than the national norm. The 11,290 childcare workers in the metro labor pool (shared with Arlington and DC's Northern Virginia outposts) are paid better than most US peers and still cannot afford to live where they work. Wage compression is real here too — just at a higher absolute floor.

Family strain — 84/100

Mothers of children under 6 participate in the labor force at 77.18% — far above the national rate of 68.21% and the Virginia average of 69.77%. Single-parent households make up 28.05% of Alexandria families with kids — below the national share. About 77% of children under 6 are in homes where every available parent works. The Family Strain subscore reflects a city where dual-professional, partnered households are the dominant structure — a reality that lifts every demand metric for paid childcare and shapes the entire local market upward.

Policy support — 50/100

Virginia's state-funded pre-K reaches 22% of 4-year-olds and 3% of 3-year-olds, with $6,119 per child in spending. The Commonwealth has no state paid family or medical leave program. CCDF child-care subsidies reach 32.2% of eligible families. Policy is measured at the state level.

In-home care in Alexandria

In-home care in Alexandria typically reflects the broader DC-Northern Virginia nanny market, where full-time live-out professional nannies command top-of-market metro rates. Many Alexandria families turn to nanny shares between two households as a cost-management strategy, splitting hourly rates and pooling schedule flexibility. Au pair placements are notably more common in Alexandria than the national average, drawn by the predictability of a fixed monthly stipend against center tuitions approaching $30,000 a year.

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.