Best programs to become a childcare worker
You do not need a college degree to become a childcare worker. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Child Care Provider/Assistant; Child Development; and Early Childhood and Family Studies (IPEDS completions).
3 college programs at 609 schools train childcare workers, graduating 28,866 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $34,980 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About childcare workers
Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and childcare institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.
Best programs to study to become a childcare worker
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 19.0709 | 23,628 | 81.9% | 397 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
| 2 | CIP 19.0706 | 4,749 | 16.5% | 224 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
| 3 | CIP 19.0711 | 489 | 1.7% | 22 | $31,642 | $23,092 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What childcare workers earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $40,020 | 52,780 | 0.87× | 119 | 13,488 |
| Illinois | $35,830 | 23,900 | 1.17× | 43 | 2,279 |
| Georgia | $28,020 | 21,040 | 1.29× | 26 | 1,890 |
| Texas | $28,570 | 34,160 | 0.73× | 46 | 1,467 |
| Florida | $34,210 | 21,760 | 0.66× | 31 | 1,241 |
| Virginia | $34,330 | 13,930 | 1.02× | 22 | 1,128 |
| Kentucky | $28,920 | 5,820 | 0.87× | 17 | 843 |
| Oklahoma | $27,730 | 7,590 | 1.33× | 21 | 793 |
| North Carolina | $29,140 | 12,550 | 0.76× | 36 | 549 |
| Tennessee | $29,660 | 13,650 | 1.25× | 17 | 399 |
| Mississippi | $22,050 | 5,420 | 1.40× | 14 | 385 |
| Pennsylvania | $30,140 | 13,000 | 0.64× | 19 | 335 |
| New Mexicomoderate | $35,840 | 4,120 | 1.42× | 3 | 332 |
| Louisiana | $22,900 | 8,000 | 1.24× | 12 | 327 |
| West Virginia | $27,710 | 1,930 | 0.83× | 5 | 325 |
| South Carolina | $29,650 | 10,660 | 1.39× | 19 | 282 |
| Minnesota | $35,520 | 11,570 | 1.17× | 14 | 260 |
| Wisconsin | $32,460 | 5,560 | 0.57× | 11 | 250 |
| Michigan | $30,970 | 14,010 | 0.95× | 20 | 246 |
| Coloradolimited | $40,750 | 13,310 | 1.39× | 1 | 238 |
| Massachusetts | $40,900 | 13,140 | 1.08× | 8 | 237 |
| Iowa | $28,420 | 6,020 | 1.16× | 9 | 207 |
| Missouri | $30,790 | 12,430 | 1.27× | 11 | 192 |
| Arkansas | $28,450 | 5,400 | 1.24× | 14 | 174 |
| Connecticutmoderate | $36,660 | 12,020 | 2.12× | 3 | 157 |
| Washington | $41,680 | 4,340 | 0.37× | 7 | 147 |
| Arizonalimited | $35,100 | 5,530 | 0.51× | 2 | 69 |
| Marylandmoderate | $36,030 | 9,750 | 1.06× | 4 | 67 |
| Oregonmoderate | $38,650 | 5,240 | 0.80× | 4 | 65 |
| Nebraskamoderate | $30,740 | 9,390 | 2.75× | 4 | 59 |
| Idaholimited | $30,160 | 4,430 | 1.55× | 2 | 56 |
| Alabamamoderate | $22,720 | 4,580 | 0.65× | 4 | 52 |
| Nevadalimited | $29,740 | 3,740 | 0.72× | 1 | 47 |
| Ohio | $29,680 | 11,300 | 0.61× | 11 | 45 |
| Kansaslimited | $29,240 | 7,430 | 1.55× | 2 | 37 |
| Alaskalimited | $36,200 | 1,340 | 1.24× | 2 | 33 |
| Vermontlimited | $38,030 | — | — | 1 | 30 |
| Utahmoderate | $31,630 | 4,830 | 0.83× | 4 | 21 |
| Indianamoderate | $30,180 | 8,280 | 0.78× | 3 | 16 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $37,590 | 44,020 | 1.36× | 4 | 16 |
| North Dakotamoderate | $30,290 | 4,030 | 2.81× | 3 | 15 |
| New Jersey | $36,390 | 25,070 | 1.75× | 5 | 13 |
| South Dakotalimited | $27,940 | 2,370 | 1.56× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- 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.
- Sanitize toys and play equipment.
- Dress children and change diapers.
- Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered.
Skills
- Monitoring3.7
- Active Listening3.5
- Speaking3.4
- Critical Thinking3.4
- Learning Strategies3.1
- Writing3.0
- Reading Comprehension3.0
- Active Learning3.0
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service3.6
- English Language3.6
- Education and Training3.3
- Psychology3.2
- Public Safety and Security3.2
- Sociology and Anthropology2.5
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension3.9
- Oral Expression3.9
- Problem Sensitivity3.8
- Speech Recognition3.4
- Speech Clarity3.4
- Deductive Reasoning3.4
Core activities
- Assisting and Caring for Others4.5
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.0
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships3.9
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates3.8
- Thinking Creatively3.8
- Performing General Physical Activities3.7
How to get in
How to become a childcare worker
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Childcare Workers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 19.0706Child Development
- 19.0709Child Care Provider/Assistant
- 19.0711Early Childhood and Family Studies
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a childcare worker?+
You do not need a college degree to become a childcare worker. BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Child Care Provider/Assistant; Child Development; and Early Childhood and Family Studies (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a childcare worker?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job are Child Care Provider/Assistant; Child Development; and Early Childhood and Family Studies (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this job, which together graduate about 28,866 people a year.
How much do childcare workers earn?+
The median is $34,980 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $24,260 at the 10th percentile to $46,010 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for childcare workers growing?+
BLS projects a -2.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 160,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
609 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do childcare workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Nanny, House Manager, Infant Teacher, Toddler Teacher, Family Assistant, Child Care Worker among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 39-9011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card