Daycare and preschool Google Ads cost per click
Across the US, a typical daycare and preschool campaign on Google Ads pays about $4.90 a click. That ranks 90 of the 146 kinds of business measured here, where the one in the middle pays $5.40.
$4.90
Cost per click, US
1 million
Searches a month, US
$3.40 to $17.90
Google's top-of-page bids for the same searches
By service
Clicks for preschool and pre-k cost the most at $5.00, 47% more than those for nannies and babysitters at $3.40. A campaign that takes every service pays somewhere between, set by which ones people search for most where it runs.
| Service | Cost per click | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| Preschool and pre-k | $5.00 | 76,000 |
| Daycare | $4.90 | 880,000 |
| Nannies and babysitters | $3.40 | 55,000 |
By state
A click costs the most in Colorado at $7.50, 3.7 times one in Montana at $2.00. The same searches cost more where more businesses bid on them and each customer is worth more.
Where people search most
| State | Cost per click | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | $4.90 | 130,000 |
| California | $3.90 | 99,000 |
| New York | $3.50 | 83,000 |
| Florida | $4.20 | 76,000 |
| Illinois | $5.00 | 50,000 |
| Georgia | $5.30 | 44,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $5.00 | 41,000 |
| Washington | $5.00 | 35,000 |
| New Jersey | $5.80 | 34,000 |
| North Carolina | $5.50 | 34,000 |
Every state with enough searches (51)
| State | Cost per click | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado | $7.50 | 20,000 |
| Minnesota | $6.90 | 19,000 |
| Arizona | $6.10 | 19,000 |
| Maryland | $5.90 | 21,000 |
| Kansas | $5.90 | 7,200 |
| New Jersey | $5.80 | 34,000 |
| Nebraska | $5.80 | 4,800 |
| Virginia | $5.70 | 29,000 |
| Ohio | $5.70 | 30,000 |
| Nevada | $5.60 | 7,200 |
| Delaware | $5.50 | 4,600 |
| North Carolina | $5.50 | 34,000 |
| Georgia | $5.30 | 44,000 |
| Oklahoma | $5.20 | 8,200 |
| Iowa | $5.20 | 6,000 |
| Connecticut | $5.20 | 8,900 |
| Massachusetts | $5.00 | 22,000 |
| Michigan | $5.00 | 24,000 |
| Illinois | $5.00 | 50,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $5.00 | 41,000 |
| Washington | $5.00 | 35,000 |
| Missouri | $4.90 | 14,000 |
| Texas | $4.90 | 130,000 |
| New Hampshire | $4.80 | 3,200 |
| Tennessee | $4.70 | 15,000 |
| Wisconsin | $4.70 | 13,000 |
| South Carolina | $4.70 | 13,000 |
| Indiana | $4.60 | 16,000 |
| Arkansas | $4.40 | 5,700 |
| Idaho | $4.30 | 3,800 |
| District of Columbia | $4.30 | 4,500 |
| Florida | $4.20 | 76,000 |
| Kentucky | $3.90 | 8,300 |
| California | $3.90 | 99,000 |
| Oregon | $3.80 | 11,000 |
| New York | $3.50 | 83,000 |
| Rhode Island | $3.40 | 2,800 |
| Utah | $3.30 | 8,400 |
| New Mexico | $3.30 | 5,700 |
| Mississippi | $3.20 | 4,800 |
| Alabama | $3.00 | 10,000 |
| South Dakota | $2.80 | 1,300 |
| Maine | $2.50 | 2,500 |
| Vermont | $2.40 | 1,300 |
| North Dakota | $2.30 | 1,500 |
| Louisiana | $2.30 | 8,900 |
| Hawaii | $2.30 | 1,600 |
| Alaska | $2.20 | 1,000 |
| Wyoming | $2.00 | 1,100 |
| West Virginia | $2.00 | 2,900 |
| Montana | $2.00 | 1,600 |
Against Google's own bids
Keyword Planner puts the top-of-page bids for these searches at $3.40 to $17.90: what advertisers bid to show above the results. A typical campaign pays $4.90, inside that range, because Google charges what it takes to beat the ad below and not the bid itself. Planning a budget on the top-of-page bid overstates what clicks will cost.
No published study measures this business on its own, so its price level is the median for its industry in LocaliQ's studies, moved a third of the way toward Google's prices scaled to what campaigns paid. Google's prices set how its services and the states compare.
Searches peak in August, at 48% above December, the slowest month. A budget sized for the slow months runs out sooner in the busy ones.
Priced near daycare and preschool
Just above and below in the ranking
- Physical therapy$5.00
- Dermatology$4.90
- Med spa$4.90
- Accountant and tax prep$4.80
- Chiropractor$4.80
- Printing and custom apparel$4.40
Others in education and childcare
- Tutoring and test prep$5.20
- Swim lessons$3.80
- Music lessons$3.80
- Summer camps$3.40
- Martial arts$3.20
- Dance studio$3.10
- Driving school$2.70
Where the figures come from
Google's own search counts and click prices for the year to August 2026 (Keyword Planner, through DataForSEO), scaled to what campaigns paid in LocaliQ's published studies, rounded to ten cents. They are medians: half of campaigns pay more. The full method is on the benchmark page, and the budget calculator runs on the same data for any ZIP code.
Bringing your own cost per click down starts in the account:
Written by Grant Epley. Last reviewed October 11, 2026. Search data to August 2026.