Daycare in Indiana

The U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices has no county prices for Indiana, so we don't publish a figure. Ask each program for its weekly rate, and ask Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning about the rates it pays providers.

Apply to CCDF child care vouchers, run by Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning. Indiana lowered its entry limit to 140% of poverty in May 2025, and its program page now lists 135%. Check the current limit with the agency. Parents generally need to be working, in school or in job training. You pay a copay based on income, and the state pays the rest to the provider you choose. New applicants go on a waiting list. On My Way Pre-K applicants, families below 100% of the poverty level and children of child care workers come first.

Head Start and Early Head Start are free for families who qualify. The Office of Head Start lists 216 centers in Indiana; 89 serve babies and toddlers (Early Head Start) and 179 offer preschool for ages 3 to 5. You qualify with income at or below the federal poverty line, or at any income if you get TANF or SSI, your child is in foster care, or your family is homeless.

Look the program up in Indiana's child care search before you visit. Childcare.gov's Indiana page links to the state's search, its licensing rules and its inspection reports.

A center runs in a commercial or school building with several classrooms and staff. A family child care home is licensed care in the provider's own home, usually for a smaller group of mixed ages. Both are licensed and inspected by the state.

For 2026, a dependent care FSA through your employer can shelter up to $7,500 of child care costs from tax, and the Child and Dependent Care Credit pays up to 50% of up to $3,000 in expenses for one child or $6,000 for two or more. The same dollars can't count for both.