2023 Cost Guide for Los Angeles Daycares and Preschools
Cost of child care in Los Angeles, CA
The right child care is an investment that can make a lasting impact on your little one’s life. But finding and choosing the best early education provider in Los Angeles can be a difficult decision -- and an expensive one.
To help in your search, we found and analyzed websites for 997 daycares and preschools across Los Angeles. We brought it all together in this guide to give you a sense of the range of prices you might see as well as the averages that you’ll likely pay based on your needs.
For full-time, full-day care in Los Angeles, the average cost across age groups ranged from $268 to $4,220 per month -- with an average price of $1,430 per month.
We know that cost is just one factor in determining the best daycare or preschool for your child. And, many elements go into a provider’s cost: curriculum, student-teacher ratios, schedule, location, facilities, educational training of teachers, etc.
We hope this guide will help you prepare for the type of investment you’ll be making. Depending on when you’re starting your search, just consider that tuition continues to rise. Between 2022 and 2023, we saw an average increase of 9%.
What’s included in this guide?
What does daycare cost near me? A breakdown by neighborhood.
How much does infant daycare cost in Los Angeles? (0-18 months old)
How much does toddler daycare cost in Los Angeles? (18-36 months old)
How much does preschool cost in Los Angeles? (3-5 years old)
How much does Pre-K cost in Los Angeles? (4-5 years old)
What are the most common daycare and preschool fees and discounts in Los Angeles?
What does daycare cost near me?
Most affordable Los Angeles metro area neighborhoods
Based on monthly average costs across schools, we noticed that the most affordable Los Angeles metro area zip codes for full-time, full-day care were:
90001: Average of $422 per month.
90003: Average of $440 per month.
90069: Average of $528 per month.
90044: Average of $535 per month.
90037: Average of $541 per month.
More expensive neighborhoods
On the more expensive end of the spectrum, the Los Angeles metro area zip codes with higher average monthly costs for full-time, full-day care were:
90023: Average of $4,904 per month.
90077: Average of $2,782 per month.
90010: Average of $2,520 per month.
90095: Average of $2,457 per month.
90048: Average of $2,346 per month.
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How much does infant daycare cost in Los Angeles?
Most child care centers define “infant” as less than 18 months old. Infant daycare in Los Angeles costs, on average, $1,571 per month for full-time, full-day care.
Full-day rates for infant daycare in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,571. Ranges from $390 to $3,024 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $1,151. Ranges from $640 to $2,360 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $869. Ranges from $535 to $1,475 per month.
Half-day rates for infant daycare in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,254. Ranges from $720 to $2,374 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $909. Ranges from $460 to $2,054 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $683. Ranges from $535 to $1,500 per month.
Drop-in rates for infant daycare in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, hourly drop-in rates for infant daycare average $32 per hour. Daily rates for infants average $64 per day.
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How much does toddler daycare cost in Los Angeles?
Child care center websites in Los Angeles often define “toddler” as any child between the ages of 18 and 36 months old. Toddler daycare in Los Angeles costs, on average, $1,388 per month for full-time, full-day care. We’ve generally seen that costs for toddlers are cheaper than for infants, since at the higher end of the age range, they require slightly less dedicated attention and many times are potty trained.
Heads-up: some providers will require that your child is potty trained for certain ages, while others do not -- so just make sure to ask.
Full-day rates for toddler daycare in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,388. Ranges from $309 to $3,020 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $991. Ranges from $210 to $2,260 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $804. Ranges from $410 to $1,400 per month.
Half-day rates for toddler daycare in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,167. Ranges from $680 to $2,374 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $835. Ranges from $460 to $2,044 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $671. Ranges from $440 to $1,300 per month.
Drop-in rates for toddler daycare in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, hourly drop-in rates for toddler daycare average $35 per hour. Daily rates for toddlers average $65 per day.
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How much does preschool cost in Los Angeles?
Across most preschool websites in Los Angeles, the average age for preschool is typically defined as between 3 and 5 years old. Preschool in Los Angeles costs, on average, $1,413 per month for full-time, full-day programs.
Full-day rates for preschools in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,413. Ranges from $387 to $5,265 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $1,004. Ranges from $397 to $2,740 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $774. Ranges from $329 to $2,570 per month.
Half-day rates for preschools in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,031. Ranges from $260 to $2,374 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $726. Ranges from $418 to $2,065 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $510. Ranges from $355 to $1,041 per month.
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How much does Pre-K cost in Los Angeles?
In Los Angeles, the average cost for private Pre-K is $1,348 per month for full-time, full-day programs.
You might be wondering, “What is the difference between preschool and Pre-K?” Preschool is usually offered to children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. Pre-K is more of a transition from preschool to kindergarten, and is usually offered for children between the ages of 4 and 5 years old. Pre-kindergartens are also sometimes attached to elementary schools and are timed for the school year right before kindergarten. This helps families more smoothly transition to kindergarten.
In Los Angeles, there are both private and public Pre-K options. We dive into both of them here.
Private Pre-K costs in Los Angeles
Full-day rates for Pre-K in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,348. Ranges from $387 to $4,850 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $971. Ranges from $397 to $2,740 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $778. Ranges from $329 to $2,570 per month.
Half-day rates for Pre-K in Los Angeles
5 days a week: Average is $1,012. Ranges from $260 to $2,374 per month.
3 days a week: Average is $704. Ranges from $418 to $2,044 per month.
2 days a week: Average is $530. Ranges from $397 to $1,013 per month.
Public Pre-K options in Los Angeles
For 5 year olds, LAUSD offers a Transition Kindergarten (TK) program. This is a full-day program (6 hours per day) that operates during the regular school year, and it is available at all LAUSD elementary schools that offer kindergarten. Enrollment is not restricted to any income thresholds. You can see the full list of elementary schools as well as enrollment instructions here.
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What are the most common daycare and preschool fees in Los Angeles?
Top 3 fees
As we searched through hundreds of Los Angeles early education websites, we noticed a lot of different fees. But the 3 most common annual fees were:
1. Application (or waitlist) fee 2. Enrollment (or registration) fee* 3. Supply fee
When we combined these 3 fees together for daycares and preschools, we saw that the average total fees ranged from $25 to $4,000 -- but the average was $637 per year.
Diving deeper into each of these fees:
Application (or waitlist fee). Application fees ranged from $25 to $2,500, with an average of $375 for each new student.
Enrollment (or registration) fee*. Enrollment fees ranged from $25 to $2,550, with an average of $422.
Supply fee. Supply fees ranged from $15 to $1,850, with an average of $320. There were a few child care providers that mentioned an itemized list of school supplies was available, in lieu of the supply fee. So, it might be worth asking if you can purchase supplies (and shop around and save) instead of paying the fee.
* A number of centers had a “facility fee” that was due at enrollment/registration. For our calculations, we included this facility fee in the enrollment/registration fee.
Additional fees
Meals. Some early education providers may provide meals. If they do, ask if this is already included in the tuition. We saw a few cases where meals were an added fee.
Deposit. Although not technically an additional fee, we have seen a number of daycares and preschools require a deposit. We’ve seen that this is many times one month of tuition that is later applied towards the last month’s tuition. Make sure to ask when and how the deposit will be applied or returned.
Penalty fees. There are a number of fees when things don’t exactly go as planned. Here are the main ones we came across when searching each of the websites:
Early or late arrival fee. If you drop off your little one before the scheduled time, or are running late to pick them up, there might be a fee for that. We typically saw a fee of $1 per minute.
Late payments. These ranged from either a per-day fee (e.g. $10 for each day late) and/or a total fee of $25 or $50.
Returned check. Usually around $25-50.
No lunch fee. If meals are not provided, and you forget to pack a lunch for your child, there may be a fee. This one wasn’t as common, though. And the fee we saw was usually around $5/day.
Discounts
Sibling discount. The most common discount we saw in Los Angeles was the sibling discount. Maybe having more siblings isn’t that bad after all. The sibling discount ranged from 2.5% to 50%, but mostly commonly, we saw 10% to be the standard.
Lump sum payment discount. Preschool and daycare is expensive. But, if you have the means to pay the annual cost in one lump sum, some schools will give you a discount for that. If it’s not listed on the website, make sure to ask. Where it was listed, we usually saw it range from 1-5% off.
Absence and closures. Providers seem to be divided on this one. If your child will be out due to an illness or a vacation, or if the school is closed for holidays or weather, you may be wondering if you’ll get a credit for those days. Definitely make sure to read your handbook -- or just ask the school. Most often, a school’s policy will likely be that no adjustments will be made. But, we did see a few schools that offered vacation credit or pro-rated certain weeks.
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How to get subsidized child care in Los Angeles
Paying for child care is expensive, and Los Angeles does provide options for families to receive financial assistance for care. California offers voucher-based child care through CalWORKs, which means that you’ll be able to choose the center for your child -- either a licensed or a license-exempt center in Los Angeles. CalWORKs offers three types of child care payment programs, and you can read more about the eligibility requirements here. The California Department of Social Services website shows the maximum reimbursements you can receive, based on your income and need. For example, in Los Angeles for full-time monthly preschool programs, you could receive up to a maximum reimbursement of $1,253 per month.
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