Daycare in Williamsburg.

Williamsburg is one of the fastest-growing daycare markets in New York City. The neighborhood has added thousands of new family households in the past decade and the supply side has expanded with it: a wave of new infant-through-Pre-K centers along North Williamsburg's waterfront, a long-running family child care network in South Williamsburg, and a steady ACS EarlyLearn footprint along the BQE. NYC's universal 3-K for All and Pre-K for All cover three- and four-year-olds, 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 Williamsburg runs roughly $2,400 to $2,750 per month for infants and roughly $1,900 to $2,200 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 meaningful share of supply, particularly in South Williamsburg and East Williamsburg, with rates of $1,500 to $1,800 per month for infants. Nanny shares run $1,600 to $1,900 per child per month.

North Williamsburg waterfront condos push pricing toward the top of this range, in part because the newest centers carry the cost of newly built infant rooms with elevator access. South Williamsburg and East Williamsburg are meaningfully cheaper at the same age group. 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 Williamsburg

Williamsburg sits inside DOE District 14, which has been one of the heavier-investing 3-K districts in the city outside Manhattan. Seats arrive in three streams: DOE district schools (PS 17 on North 5th Street, PS 18 on Maujer Street, PS 84 on South 3rd Street, PS 132 on Manhattan Avenue), DOE-contracted community-based early education centers, and family child care networks. PS 17 and PS 132 both run Pre-K classrooms with strong demand from zoned families.

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. District 14 has invested heavily in community-based 3-K, so families who need a full working-day schedule typically find a stronger fit at a community-based partner than at a DOE district school running the school calendar.

ACS EarlyLearn and the NYC Child Care Voucher

ACS-contracted EarlyLearn NYC sites are denser in South Williamsburg and along the BQE corridor than in the North Williamsburg waterfront blocks. 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 Williamsburg 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. A two-earner Williamsburg household paying the full private rate typically recovers $1,500 to $2,100 in combined tax savings on the $5,000 FSA alone, with several thousand more available across the federal, New York State, and NYC credits depending on income and child count.

Sample Williamsburg centers

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

Where to go next

Walk through the cost calculator to model your Williamsburg 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 our nanny-share guide if you're weighing that route through the infant year. For more North Brooklyn, see Greenpoint daycare and Park Slope daycare, or step back to all Brooklyn.