★ COMPARISONS · CHILDCARE · DAYCARE VS NANNY
Daycare wins by $24,700 a year — daycare $16,900 a year against the nanny's $41,600 a year. Compare full-time daycare with a nanny over a year: weekly, monthly and yearly costs each, the break-even hours, and the two-child and three-child totals. This one is the DAYCARE VS NANNY comparison — the two main childcare price structures — the childcare-cost-comparison-calculator page is the CHILDCARE comparison — daycare, nanny, au pair and family care side by side — not the two-way verdict; the au-pair-true-cost-calculator page is the AU PAIR tool — the live-in option — not daycare or a nanny; and the cost-of-raising-a-child-calculator page is the RAISING A CHILD tool — the whole childhood — not one year of care. No daycare vs nanny page exists on this site — this one is the first.
Full-time daycare against a full-time nanny, over a year. Daycare charges per child; a nanny charges per hour — that one difference decides the whole comparison. On the defaults, daycare is $325 a week for one child and the nanny is $20 an hour for 40 hours, and daycare wins by $24,700 a year. The nanny ties daycare at 16.25 hours a week, and three children flip the verdict.
It means that, on the defaults, a family pays $24,700 more a year for a full-time nanny than for a daycare place for one child: $41,600 against $16,900. The daycare charges $325 a week for one child; the nanny charges $20 an hour for 40 hours, which is $800 a week. The gap is not a rounding difference — the nanny costs almost two and a half times the daycare, because one is a group price and the other is one adult's whole working week. The national picture agrees with the shape of it: Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Survey puts a daycare centre at about $332 a week and a solo nanny at about $870 a week — our defaults, $325 and $800, sit just under those averages.
Daycare charges per child; a nanny charges per hour. That is the whole comparison. Add a second child and the daycare bill doubles to $650 a week ($33,800 a year) while the nanny stays $800 a week — the gap shrinks from $24,700 to $7,800 a year. Add a third and daycare reaches $975 a week ($50,700 a year) while the nanny still costs $41,600 — the nanny wins by $9,100 a year. The flip point is 2.46 children, so two children still favour daycare and three favour the nanny.
Hours are the nanny's lever; the rate is not enough on its own. Cutting the nanny to $15 an hour still leaves $31,200 a year against daycare's $16,900 — the gap is $14,300 a year. Cutting the hours to 25 a week at $20 an hour brings the nanny to $26,000 a year and the gap to $9,100. The break-even is 16.25 hours a week at $20 an hour: below that the nanny is cheaper, above it daycare is. At $15 an hour the break-even is 21 2/3 hours a week — 21.67 to two places.
The model is pre-tax and leaves out the extras on both sides. The nanny side ignores payroll taxes, benefits and backup care when the nanny is sick, which can add 10–20%. The daycare side ignores registration and activity fees. Rates also vary widely by city — infant care in a big coastal city can cost double the national average. This page compares the two price structures, not quotes: put your local rates in and read the gap, not the national one.
On the defaults: daycare $325 a week for 1 child; nanny $20 an hour for 40 hours; 52 weeks a year.
And the other way: a nanny ties daycare at 40 hours a week when the rate is $8.125 an hour — $325 ÷ 40 — and daycare ties the nanny when its weekly price reaches $800. With two children the gap is $7,800 a year; with three the nanny wins by $9,100 a year.
The defaults are a daycare at $325 a week per child for one child and a nanny at $20 an hour for 40 hours a week, over 52 weeks a year — chosen because they sit just under the national survey averages ($332 a week for a daycare centre, $870 a week for a solo nanny) and make the arithmetic clean. They are a starting point, not a quote: daycare prices are usually flat by age band, so an infant and a toddler in the same centre may pay different rates; the nanny rate varies by city and experience; and neither side of the comparison includes taxes, benefits, fees or backup care. Put your own numbers in — the break-even hours and the two-child and three-child totals are the numbers that decide it.
These notes repeat in every explainer section because this page is built to be read start to finish: daycare charges per child and a nanny charges per hour; hours are the nanny's lever; and the figures are pre-tax and exclude the extras on both sides.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Daycare/week | price × children | $325. |
| Daycare/month | weekly × 52 / 12 | $1,408.33. |
| Daycare/year | weekly × 52 | $16,900. |
| Nanny/week | rate × hours | $800. |
| Nanny/month | weekly × 52 / 12 | $3,466.67. |
| Nanny/year | weekly × 52 | $41,600. |
| Winner | lower yearly cost | Daycare. |
| Yearly gap | difference | $24,700. |
| Break-even nanny hours | daycare weekly / nanny rate | 16.25. |
| Verdict | in words | Daycare wins by $24,700 a year. |
| Reverse: Nanny hourly rate at which the nanny ties daycare at 40 hours a week | step | 8.125: Daycare $325/week, nanny $325/week: a tie at $16,900 a year each. |
| Reverse: Daycare weekly rate at which daycare ties the $20/hour, 40-hour nanny | step | 800: Daycare $800/week, nanny $800/week: a tie at $41,600 a year each. |
| Reverse: Nanny hours at which a $15/hour nanny ties $325/week daycare | step | 21.67: Daycare $325/week, nanny $325.05/week: Daycare wins by $2.60/year (daycare $16,900/year, nanny $16,902.60/year). |
| Reverse: Children at which daycare ties the $800/week nanny — 2.46, so 3 children flips it | step | 3: Daycare $975/week, nanny $800/week: Nanny wins by $9,100/year (daycare $50,700/year, nanny $41,600/year). |
| 2 children | same model | Daycare $650/week, nanny $800/week: Daycare wins by $7,800/year (daycare $33,800/year, nanny $41,600/year). |
| Nanny $15/hour | same model | Daycare $325/week, nanny $600/week: Daycare wins by $14,300/year (daycare $16,900/year, nanny $31,200/year). |
| Daycare $450/week | same model | Daycare $450/week, nanny $800/week: Daycare wins by $18,200/year (daycare $23,400/year, nanny $41,600/year). |
| Nanny 25 hours/week | same model | Daycare $325/week, nanny $500/week: Daycare wins by $9,100/year (daycare $16,900/year, nanny $26,000/year). |
| 3 children | same model | Daycare $975/week, nanny $800/week: Nanny wins by $9,100/year (daycare $50,700/year, nanny $41,600/year). |
| Negative daycare rate | same model | Rates and hours must be 0 or more — a negative price is not a price.. |
| Zero nanny hours | same model | Nanny hours must be more than 0 — with no hours there is nothing to compare.. |
| Non-numeric nanny rate | same model | Enter a number for the nanny rate.. |
| Zero children | same model | Count at least 1 child — the comparison needs a child to look after.. |
| Non-integer children (1.5) | same model | Children must be a whole number — you cannot have half a child in daycare.. |
Figures are pre-tax and exclude registration fees, activity fees, nanny taxes and sick-day backup care; verify local rates before deciding. The arithmetic is exact on the numbers you type: weekly × 52 is the yearly figure, weekly × 52 ÷ 12 is the monthly figure, and the break-even is the daycare weekly price divided by the nanny hourly rate. The daycare price is per child and usually flat by age band, so siblings of different ages may pay different rates; nanny costs ignore payroll taxes, benefits and backup care, which can add 10–20%; and rates vary widely by city — the page is a comparison of the two price structures, not a quote. A nanny share, an au pair or a family care centre are not in this comparison — the childcare-cost-comparison-calculator covers more care types.
Daycare wins by $24,700 a year — daycare $16,900 a year against the nanny's $41,600 a year. Daycare $325 a week for one child; the nanny $20 an hour for 40 hours, $800 a week. The nanny ties daycare at 16.25 hours a week. Two children: daycare $33,800 a year against the nanny's $41,600 — daycare wins by $7,800 a year. Three children: daycare $50,700 a year against the nanny's $41,600 — the nanny wins by $9,100 a year. Nanny hourly rate at which the nanny ties daycare at 40 hours a week: 8.125. Daycare weekly rate at which daycare ties the $20/hour, 40-hour nanny: 800. Nanny hours at which a $15/hour nanny ties $325/week daycare: 21.67. Children at which daycare ties the $800/week nanny — 2.46, so 3 children flips it: 3. Source: Bright Side Kit, brightoolbox.com.
On the defaults, daycare costs less by $24,700 a year — $16,900 a year against the nanny's $41,600. The daycare is $325 a week for one child; the nanny is $20 an hour for 40 hours, $800 a week. Put your local rates in — the answer follows your numbers.
16.25 hours a week at $20 an hour — $325 ÷ $20. Below that the nanny is cheaper; above it daycare is. At $15 an hour the break-even is 21 2/3 hours a week.
Daycare is still cheaper with two children, by $7,800 a year — $33,800 against $41,600. Daycare doubles to $650 a week because the price is per child; the nanny stays $800 a week.
With three children the nanny is cheaper, by $9,100 a year — $41,600 against daycare's $50,700. The flip point is 2.46 children, so the third child is where the per-child price overtakes the flat nanny price.
$8.125 an hour at 40 hours a week — $325 ÷ 40. At that rate the nanny costs $325 a week, exactly what daycare costs.
No — the figures are pre-tax and exclude nanny payroll taxes, benefits and backup care, which can add 10–20%. Daycare registration and activity fees are excluded too. Verify local rates before deciding.
Care.com's 2026 Cost of Care Survey puts a daycare centre at about $332 a week and a solo nanny at about $870 a week. Our defaults — $325 and $800 — sit just under those averages, and the calculator takes your local rates.
Part-time is where the nanny can win — 25 hours a week at $20 an hour is $26,000 a year, and the gap to daycare shrinks to $9,100. At 16.25 hours a week the two cost exactly the same.