Here’s a statistic that may surprise older parents and those without children.
The average monthly price of child care in Jacksonville is almost as expensive as rent.
That’s according to HotPads, which is a division of Zillow.
Using Census Bureau and Care.com’s Care Index data, Hot Pads found looked at the top 50 metro markets.
The average (weighted) cost of child care in Jacksonville is $1,290 a month while the median monthly rent is $1,375.
HotPads found child care was - on average - more expensive than rent in 13 of the top 50 cities.
Child care costs included at-home and in-center care.
Taking a look at how Jacksonville compared to the national average, HotPads said the median rent across the U.S. rose 2.3 percent over the past year, while the average cost of child care rose 1.6 percent.
That worked out to $1,385 a month for child care nationally and a median national rent payment of $1,500 a month.
Additional Information
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
Photo used under Creative Commons license.
