In Philly, childcare for two kids costs more than rent — and both are getting more expensive

Sending two children to daycare in the Philadelphia area costs more, on average, than renting a home.

And the prices of both essentials are on the rise locally.

The average monthly cost of childcare for one kid in the Philadelphia region is $961, according to a new report from online real estate brokerage Redfin. Median monthly rent in the area was $1,885 as of March.

In Philadelphia, the report noted, the combined cost of rent and daycare for two children is equal to 61% of the local median income.

» READ MORE: Childcare costs ‘more than a mortgage’ per kid, forcing Philly parents to make tough choices

“When rent and childcare take up half of a family’s income, and you add the cost of other essentials like groceries and bills, there’s not much left for anything else,” said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist. “That makes the decision to have children a huge financial sacrifice, where families are forced to live on the financial edge, without much disposable income or money to put into savings, until their kids are older.”

As growth in childcare costs outpaced inflation between 2019 and 2023, some in the area have lamented that the monthly expense became more than a mortgage.

Meanwhile, pandemic struggles and staff shortages have caused centers to close, leading to long wait-lists at some facilities.

Daycare inflation doesn’t seem to be easing, and housing costs are also growing locally.

Childcare costs in the Philadelphia metro area rose by an estimated 3.3% from 2024 to 2025, the report said, while rent was up 2.4% year-over-year.

Philadelphia was one of seven metros where rent is on the rise, Redfin said, out of the 20 included in the report.

» READ MORE: Childcare staff often make less money than retail workers. That’s causing staff shortages and long waitlists at daycares

The online real estate brokerage compared its own data on median asking rent for March 2025 with the estimated average cost of childcare in 2025. Those estimates were based on regional breakdowns of U.S. Department of Labor data from 2022, adjusted to account for local inflation rates.

Redfin compared 20 metros where it found sufficient data on childcare cost and inflation. In 14 of them, including Philadelphia, the cost of sending two children to daycare is greater than the median asking rent.

The report notes that childcare, unlike housing, is only a temporary need, and that many children are able to attend public schools beginning in kindergarten.

However, that doesn’t eliminate all childcare costs for families, given that area elementary schools let out between 2 and 4 p.m. before many parents are done with their workday and also have a summer break.

According to Dept. of Labor data, center-based care for school-age children in Philadelphia cost an average of about $10,000 per year in 2024.