{
  "query": {
    "country": "US",
    "area": "Cook County, IL",
    "age_group": "infant",
    "care_type": "centre",
    "hours": "full-time"
  },
  "status": "ok",
  "price": {
    "currency": "USD",
    "unit": "per week",
    "value": 278.33,
    "measure": "median",
    "median": 278.33,
    "typical_low": null,
    "typical_high": null,
    "min": null,
    "max": null
  },
  "sample_size": null,
  "period": {
    "from": "2022-01-01",
    "to": "2022-12-31"
  },
  "confidence": "high",
  "price_type": "official_statistic",
  "statistic": {
    "measure": "median",
    "reference_period": "2022",
    "note": "The Department of Labor's database currently ends in 2022, 4 years ago; childcare prices have generally risen since, so treat this as a floor for today's price. A median weekly price for full-time care as charged to parents, before subsidies. DOL estimates the figure where a county has no survey data."
  },
  "as_of": "2026-10-14T23:02:27.759Z",
  "source": {
    "id": "us-dol-childcare",
    "name": "National Database of Childcare Prices (NDCP)",
    "publisher": "U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau",
    "licence": "US Government work, public domain. The Department of Labor says: \"Materials created by the federal government are generally part of the public domain and may be used, reproduced and distributed without permission. Therefore, content on this website which is in the public domain may be used without the prior permission of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). However, such materials may not be used in a manner that implies any affiliation or endorsement by the DOL of your company, website or publication.\" (Public Domain, Copyright, Trademark & Patent Information Schedule)",
    "licence_url": "https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/copyright",
    "attribution": "Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau, National Database of Childcare Prices (2008-2022). Not endorsed by the Department of Labor.",
    "url": "https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/featured-childcare"
  },
  "method": "United States (Department of Labor, National Database of Childcare Prices): the median weekly price of full-time care that providers charge parents, for the chosen county, age of child and setting (child care centre or home-based family childcare), for the latest year in the database. Published by the Women's Bureau from state childcare market rate surveys and other administrative data, with estimates for counties without survey data. We pass on the published median; it is a price list figure before subsidies, not a range built from individual bills.",
  "method_url": "https://proofprice.com/method",
  "summary": "The median price charged for full-time infant care (under 2 years old) in child care centres in Cook County, IL was US$278 a week in 2022. Official median published by U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau for 2022.",
  "notice": "Information, not a valuation or offer. Ranges describe past recorded prices.",
  "extra": {
    "area": {
      "county": "Cook County",
      "state": "IL",
      "fips": "17031"
    },
    "age_group": "infant",
    "care_type": "centre",
    "hours": "full-time",
    "price_basis": "median weekly price charged by providers for full-time care, before public subsidies",
    "percentile_75": 307.75,
    "percentile_75_note": "The 75th percentile price in the county (a quarter of provider prices are higher), as published; it is not a 90th percentile.",
    "quality_flag": 1,
    "quality_flag_note": "DOL's code for how the figure was obtained; its meaning is in the DOL technical report (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/wb/topics/featured-childcare). The school-age series has no flag.",
    "by_age_group": {
      "infant": {
        "centre_based": 278.33,
        "home_based": 207.77
      },
      "toddler": {
        "centre_based": 220,
        "home_based": 193.58
      },
      "preschool": {
        "centre_based": 189.17,
        "home_based": 176.13
      },
      "school-age": {
        "centre_based": 82.6,
        "home_based": 52.1
      }
    },
    "data_year": 2022,
    "data_age_years": 4,
    "not_included": "part-time prices, hourly prices, city or ZIP figures, and any price after 2022"
  },
  "answer_id": "ans_fe01c1a5ca58244d68bb",
  "method_version": "1",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-10-14T23:02:27.759Z",
  "evidence": {
    "type": "official_statistic",
    "label": "Official published median",
    "meaning": "One average or median that a statistics office or regulator publishes for a reference period: it describes a group, not a distribution, and says nothing about any single price."
  }
}