Childcare Worker Hourly Pay, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 11,091 US job postings by 2,464 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for childcare workers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 11,091 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for childcare workers in US job postings is $17.50 an hour (2,719 postings from 664 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $15.74 to $20.50 an hour.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $18.00 an hour (581 postings).
- The skills that most set childcare worker postings apart are child development, working with children, nurturing.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 1 year of experience.
Childcare Worker job postings in the US, October 2026
- $17.50/hr
- Median advertised pay (2,719 postings)
- $15.74–$20.50
- Middle 50% of postings
- $18.00/hr
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 11,091
- US job postings from 2,464 employers
How much does a childcare worker make an hour?
The median advertised pay is $17.50 an hour, from 2,719 US job postings by 664 employers that state pay. That is about $37,000 a year at 2,080 hours.
Advertised pay in 2,719 US childcare worker job postings: median $37,000 a year ($17.50 an hour), middle half $33,000 to $44,000.
- Median: $37,000 ($17.50/hr)
- 25th percentile: $33,000
- 75th percentile: $44,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $10K–$20K | 0.3% |
| $20K–$30K | 11.2% |
| $30K–$40K | 52.4% |
| $40K–$50K | 25.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 5.2% |
| $60K–$70K | 2.3% |
| $70K–$80K | 1.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 1.1% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $17.50 | $15.74–$20.50 | 1,769 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $37,000 | $33K–$44K | 2,719 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Childcare Workers (39-9011) at $35,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a childcare worker?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $18.00 an hour (581 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $18.00/hr | 581 |
| 2-4 years | $20.00/hr | 267 |
| 5+ years | withheld | 50 |
Highest-paying childcare worker jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toddler Teacher | $18.00/hr | 909 | 219 |
| After School Teacher | $18.00/hr | 331 | 143 |
| Childcare Worker (general) | $17.11/hr | 579 | 205 |
| Assistant Preschool Teacher | $17.07/hr | 365 | 138 |
Childcare worker pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | $22.50/hr | $20.50–$24.64 | 108 | 5.2% |
| California | $22.00/hr | $19.84–$23.96 | 171 | 6.9% |
| Minnesota | $19.50/hr | $17.25–$22.36 | 177 | 3.5% |
| New York | $19.10/hr | $17.38–$23.57 | 179 | 6.6% |
| Illinois | $19.00/hr | $17.38–$20.50 | 119 | 3.1% |
| North Carolina | $16.00/hr | $14.06–$17.00 | 126 | 5.0% |
| Ohio | $16.00/hr | $14.50–$17.50 | 104 | 4.0% |
| Texas | $15.00/hr | $13.00–$17.00 | 187 | 8.7% |
| Georgia | $15.00/hr | $14.00–$16.00 | 117 | 4.5% |
Skills employers ask for in childcare worker job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 31% |
| Organizational skills | 11% |
| Interpersonal skills | 11% |
| Dependable | 10% |
| Patience | 7% |
| Teamwork | 7% |
| Problem-solving | 6% |
| Child development | 6% |
| Positive attitude | 6% |
| Reliable | 5% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set childcare workers apart
- Child development54× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Patient12.7× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Patience6.8× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Dependable3.6× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Flexible4.1× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Reliable3.4× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a childcare worker job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a childcare worker do?
Employers post these jobs as Toddler Teacher, Daycare Teacher, Infant Teacher, Child Care, Infant/Toddler Teacher and other titles. The largest specializations are Toddler Teacher (35%), Assistant Preschool Teacher (13%), After School Teacher (11%).
The closest official occupation is Childcare Workers (39-9011.00). Its most important tasks:
- Maintain a safe play environment.
- Observe and monitor children's play activities.
- Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues.
- Support children's emotional and social development, encouraging understanding of others and positive self-concepts.
- Care for children in institutional setting, such as group homes, nursery schools, private businesses, or schools for people with disabilities.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a childcare worker?
Among 1,071 postings that state a minimum, the median is 1 year. Under 1% say 0 years and 59% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,071 US childcare worker job postings: median 1 year, and 59% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 7% |
| 1 yr | 52% |
| 2 yrs | 30% |
| 3-4 yrs | 6% |
| 5-7 yrs | 3% |
| 8-9 yrs | under 1% |
| 10+ yrs | 2% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Part-time 52%, Full-time 48% of the 1,279 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a childcare worker: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Toddler Teacher | 196 (8.0%) |
| Daycare Teacher | 190 (7.7%) |
| Infant Teacher | 158 (6.4%) |
| Child Care | 146 (5.9%) |
| Infant/Toddler Teacher | 104 (4.2%) |
| Child Care Teacher | 86 (3.5%) |
| Childcare Teacher | 82 (3.3%) |
| Preschool Assistant Teacher | 81 (3.3%) |
| After School Teacher | 78 (3.2%) |
| Lead Toddler Teacher | 71 (2.9%) |
| Assistant Preschool Teacher | 63 (2.6%) |
| Nanny | 61 (2.5%) |
| Lead Teacher | 57 (2.3%) |
| Preschool Teacher Assistant | 53 (2.1%) |
| Infant Lead Teacher | 52 (2.1%) |
| Child Care Worker | 51 (2.1%) |
| Lead Infant Teacher | 50 (2.0%) |
| School Age Teacher | 47 (1.9%) |
| Childcare Worker | 47 (1.9%) |
| Childcare Provider | 45 (1.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Childcare Worker compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare Worker | $17.50/hr | 1 year | 11,091 | – |
| Paraprofessional | $18.50/hr | 2 years | 24,141 | 14 |
| Recreation Coordinator | $18.75/hr | 1 year | 4,714 | 17 |
| Sports Coach | $20.00/hr | 2 years | 26,885 | 17 |
| Behavior Technician | $24.00/hr | 1 year | 13,716 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Paraprofessional | 14 | $18.50/hr |
| Recreation Coordinator | 17 | $18.75/hr |
| Sports Coach | 17 | $20.00/hr |
| Behavior Technician | 16 | $24.00/hr |
| Youth Worker | 17 | $19.00/hr |
| Tutor | 15 | $21.88/hr |
Applying for childcare worker jobs?
- Childcare worker resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find childcare worker jobs: search open postings
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.