Daycare in Mississippi

Full-time infant care at a Mississippi child care center has a median price of $119 a week, about $6,171 a year. These are 2022 prices from the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices, not adjusted for inflation, so expect to pay more today. Prices for toddlers and preschoolers are lower, and they vary by county.

Apply to Child Care Payment Program (CCPP), run by Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Early Childhood Care and Development. A family of three can earn up to $58,784 a year to start (as of February 2025). 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. Since April 2025 only six priority groups can apply directly: TANF families, foster children, teen parents, families with special needs, deployed military families and homeless families. Other working families join a waiting list and are invited to apply as funding allows.

Head Start and Early Head Start are free for families who qualify. The Office of Head Start lists 205 centers in Mississippi; 114 serve babies and toddlers (Early Head Start) and 174 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 Mississippi's child care search before you visit. Childcare.gov's Mississippi 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.