Daycare in Bushwick.

Bushwick is a large, demographically mixed neighborhood whose daycare market reflects two distinct family populations: long-rooted Latino families along the Knickerbocker, Wyckoff, and Irving corridors, and a younger transplant population concentrated on the Morgan Avenue and Jefferson Street ends. The supply mix is heavier on ACS EarlyLearn and family child care than most of Brooklyn, with a small but growing private-center layer. NYC's universal 3-K for All and Pre-K for All cover three- and four-year-olds across DOE District 32, which substantially changes the family budget once a child ages out of the Twos.

What you'll actually pay

In 2026 dollars, full-time center-based daycare in Bushwick runs roughly $2,150 to $2,500 per month for infants and roughly $1,750 to $2,050 per month for preschool-age children, drawing on the National Database of Childcare Prices for Kings County and Day Care Council of New York rate work. Licensed family child care is a much larger share of supply in Bushwick than in any of the brownstone Brooklyn neighborhoods, and family child care rates are typically $1,300 to $1,600 per month for infants. Nanny shares are less common; nanny rates run $20 to $25 per hour.

Center-based prices in Bushwick run a few hundred dollars per month below Williamsburg's North Williamsburg waterfront and well below Park Slope, in part because commercial rent along Knickerbocker, Wyckoff, and the Irving Avenue corridor is meaningfully cheaper. OCFS sets the center infant ratio at one staff to four children under 18 months, with a maximum group size of eight infants per room under Part 418-1.

3-K and Pre-K for All in Bushwick

Most of Bushwick sits inside DOE District 32, with the westernmost blocks in District 14. Seats arrive in three streams: DOE district schools (PS 75 on Knickerbocker, PS 86 on Irving, PS 116 on Wilson Avenue, PS 145 in Ridgewood-adjacent blocks), DOE-contracted community-based early education centers, and family child care networks. District 32 is one of the heavier community-based 3-K districts, with a substantial share of seats delivered through neighborhood EarlyLearn partners rather than through DOE district schools.

Families apply through MySchools each January for the following September. The lottery rebalances on residence-district priority, sibling priority, and language priority. Pre-K and 3-K are independent applications, which means a family can list any combination of DOE district and community-based sites in either round. Bilingual Spanish-English seats are concentrated in District 32 community-based partners and are heavily over-subscribed in central Bushwick.

ACS EarlyLearn and the NYC Child Care Voucher

ACS-contracted EarlyLearn NYC sites are dense in Bushwick, especially in central and east Bushwick. Income-eligible families up to 85 percent of the state median income at entry, under federal CCDF reauthorization, qualify for EarlyLearn placement or the NYC Child Care Voucher. The voucher covers a sliding portion of any ACS-enrolled licensed center, group family child care home, or family child care home, which lets families use a private Bushwick site if they prefer. Day Care Council of New York is the practical first call for families exploring either subsidy path.

Federal credits and the NYS stack

Three federal tools stack on top of any ACS voucher or 3-K and Pre-K placement: the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit on IRS Form 2441, the Dependent Care FSA (up to $5,000 per family per year of pre-tax savings), and the federal Child Tax Credit. New York State adds a refundable Child and Dependent Care Credit and a refundable Empire State Child Credit. NYC layers in the NYC Child Care Tax Credit for children under four in licensed care. For Bushwick households the New York State and NYC refundable credits frequently move the calculus more than the federal stack, since their phase-ins are designed for low- and moderate-income families.

Sample Bushwick centers

Listings in Bushwick reflect editorial picks, not paid placements, and pricing is the licensed published rate before any voucher or federal and New York tax credit. Full Bushwick listings directory is in progress.

Where to go next

Walk through the cost calculator to model your Bushwick year with the FSA, the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the New York State and NYC stacks factored in. Read our NYC UPK and 3-K explainer for the MySchools timeline, the Brooklyn cost overview, the broader cost pillar, and the state subsidy explainer if EarlyLearn or the NYC Child Care Voucher might fit. For more North Brooklyn, see Williamsburg daycare, or step back to all Brooklyn.