The typical working American family now spends 52% of its annual income on housing and childcare combined, according to new research from Redfin released Monday in partnership with childcare marketplace Winnie. The same day, Redfin said it is rolling out a new feature that shows nearby daycare and preschool options directly on its home listings.
The research, which covers the 100 largest U.S. metro areas, combined median monthly childcare costs for one child in full-time daycare with the cost of owning a median-priced home — mortgage payments at prevailing 30-year rates, property taxes, insurance and private mortgage insurance on a 15% down payment — and compared the total to U.S. Census Bureau median household income data. Housing figures were averaged from January through June 2026.
A wide gap between cheapest and most expensive metros
Affordability varies enormously by metro. Little Rock, Ark., was the most affordable large metro in the analysis, where housing and childcare combined consume 39.8% of the typical household’s income — about $29,151 a year against median income of $73,170. Oklahoma City (40.8%), Des Moines, Iowa (41.8%), Warren, Mich. (42.2%) and St. Louis (42.2%) rounded out the five most affordable metros.
At the other extreme, families in Los Angeles spend a median 96.8% of their income on housing and childcare — $94,613 a year against median income of just $97,775, leaving almost nothing left over. New York (95%), San Francisco (94.2%), Anaheim, Calif. (93.5%) and San Jose, Calif. (83.1%) were the next-least affordable.
“High-income metros like San Francisco and San Jose offer bigger paychecks, but those gains are often offset by extraordinarily expensive homes,” said Yingqi Xu, senior economist at Redfin. Sara Mauskopf, co-founder and CEO of Winnie, said “families considering a move should weigh both of those big costs — as well as job opportunities — when deciding where to put down roots.”
Redfin’s methodology assumed a 15% down payment and prevailing 30-year mortgage rates when estimating homeownership costs, then added property taxes, homeowners insurance and private mortgage insurance on top of the mortgage payment itself. Childcare costs reflect the median price of full-time daycare for one child in each metro, based on Winnie’s marketplace data, rather than costs for multiple children or part-time care, which would push the combined burden even higher for many families.
Redfin adds childcare data to every for-sale listing
Alongside the research, Redfin said it has integrated childcare information directly into its home listings through the same Winnie partnership. Home shoppers browsing listings on Redfin’s website can now see nearby daycare and preschool options, including distance from the property, parent reviews, financial aid eligibility and staff certifications. Redfin described Winnie as the largest marketplace for childcare and early education in the U.S. The feature is live on desktop and mobile web now, with integration into Redfin’s mobile app planned later in 2026.
The rollout follows Redfin’s recent finding that the income needed to afford a typical U.S. home is holding near a record $110,000, underscoring how squeezed many house-hunting families already are on housing costs alone before childcare is factored in.
What it means
The 52% national figure and the metro rankings are Redfin’s own calculations from its data partnership with Winnie, not an independently audited government statistic, and should be read as Redfin’s analysis of combined cost burden rather than an official affordability measure. The gap between Little Rock and Los Angeles — roughly 57 percentage points of income — is nonetheless a striking illustration of how much geography shapes a young family’s real cost of living.
By folding childcare listings into its search platform, Redfin is betting that combining housing and childcare data will influence where families choose to buy, not just how much they can afford to spend on a mortgage. Whether the feature meaningfully shifts search behavior, as opposed to simply adding a helpful data layer, will depend on how much weight buyers place on childcare access relative to schools, commute times and other factors that already dominate home searches.
