Andersonville runs along the Clark Street corridor north of Foster, with Edgewater to the east, Lincoln Square to the west, and Ravenswood and Bowmanville folding into its southern blocks. The neighborhood combines its old Swedish-American commercial spine with a long-running LGBTQ+ family base and a growing layer of mixed-income young families, and the daycare market shows that breadth: cooperative preschools in former two-flats, AMI Montessori houses, a meaningful family child care home network, and CPS Pre-K seats at the neighborhood elementary schools just south.
In 2026 dollars, full-time center-based daycare in Andersonville runs roughly $2,000 to $2,400 per month for infants and roughly $1,700 to $2,000 per month for preschool-age children, drawing on the National Database of Childcare Prices for Cook County and on Illinois Action for Children rate work for the far-north-side service area. DCFS Part 406 family child care homes price in the $1,350 to $1,550 per month range for infants. Nanny shares run $1,450 to $1,750 per child per month and are common through the infant year.
The infant premium tracks the Illinois ratio rule. Section 407.140 of 89 IAC sets the center infant ratio at one teacher to four children under 15 months, with a maximum group size of eight infants per room. Andersonville's Clark Street commercial rent is below Lakeview and Lincoln Park, but the credentialed-infant-teacher labor pool is the same north-side market, so the infant rate runs $300 to $500 above the toddler rate at the same center.
| Andersonville sub-area | Infant, center | Preschool, center | Family child care home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clark Street corridor (Foster-Bryn Mawr) | $2,250–$2,400 / month | $1,900–$2,000 / month | $1,500–$1,550 / month |
| Edgewater border (east of Clark) | $2,150–$2,300 / month | $1,800–$1,950 / month | $1,450–$1,500 / month |
| Bowmanville / Ravenswood border | $2,050–$2,200 / month | $1,750–$1,900 / month | $1,400–$1,500 / month |
| West Andersonville (Western corridor) | $2,000–$2,150 / month | $1,700–$1,850 / month | $1,350–$1,450 / month |
Andersonville sits in CPS District 2 on the north-side network map. The neighborhood CPS elementary schools serving Andersonville include Peirce International Studies Academy at Bryn Mawr and Hermitage, which is an IB World School, and Trumbull Elementary at Ashland and Foster. Peirce is an attendance-area school with an IB Primary Years Programme. Trumbull is a small neighborhood school with PFA seats subject to ISBE income eligibility. McCutcheon Elementary on the Uptown-Andersonville border and McPherson Elementary in Ravenswood serve some western Andersonville addresses.
CPS Universal Pre-K is offered at most neighborhood elementary schools and at community-based partner sites under the ISBE Preschool For All program. Enrollment runs through GoCPS, with a sibling-priority tier for children whose siblings are already enrolled at the receiving school. Three-year-old PFA seats are income-eligibility-based, with priority for children below 100 percent of the federal poverty level and for children with an IEP.
Heads up. Peirce is an attendance-area school with an IB authorization, not a citywide magnet. A Pre-K seat at Peirce carries the attendance-area kindergarten right only for families inside the boundary. Families outside the boundary who want Peirce Kindergarten enter the GoCPS open-enrollment process and are not auto-promoted from a Pre-K seat.
Illinois' Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) is the state's CCDF voucher. CCAP covers families up to 225 percent of the federal poverty level under the 2024 Smart Start Illinois expansion. In Cook County, Illinois Action for Children is the intake agency. CCAP is meaningfully used in the Edgewater and West Andersonville pockets and through several Andersonville family child care homes. CCAP can pay licensed centers, licensed family child care homes, and licensed-exempt relative caregivers under the state's rate schedule.
Three federal tools stack on top of any CCAP voucher or CPS 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. Illinois adds the state Earned Income Credit at a percentage of the federal EITC and, for income-eligible families, the Smart Start Workforce grants that route through providers rather than parents. A two-earner Andersonville household paying the full private rate typically recovers $1,500 to $2,100 in combined federal tax savings on the $5,000 FSA alone, with additional savings via the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit and the state EITC depending on income.
$1,800–$1,950 / month (preschool)
Long-running parent cooperative preschool a block off Clark. Mixed-age Threes and Fours, half-day and extended-day options. Required parent work-day commitment keeps tuition below the corridor average.
$2,200–$2,350 / month (toddler)
AMI-affiliated Children's House in a renovated greystone on Foster. Year-round calendar with two short closing weeks. Long Toddler waitlist.
$2,100–$2,250 / month (infant)
Infant through Pre-K center on the Bowmanville-Ravenswood border. Twelve-month calendar. ExceleRate Illinois Silver rated. Steady transitions into McPherson and Peirce.
Sliding-scale via Illinois Action for Children · $1,800–$1,950 (private)
Mixed-funding center on the Edgewater-Andersonville border. Accepts CCAP vouchers and an ISBE Preschool For All contract. Strong community ties through the Edgewater parent network.
$2,050–$2,200 / month (toddler)
AMS-affiliated Toddler and Primary classrooms on the Ravenswood border west of Clark. Half- and full-day options. Year-round calendar.
$1,400–$1,550 / month (infant)
A network of DCFS-licensed Part 406 family child care homes through the Andersonville residential blocks. Each home licensed for up to eight children with a maximum of three under two years.
Listings reflect editorial picks, not paid placements, and pricing is the licensed published rate before any CCAP voucher or federal and Illinois tax credit. Full Andersonville listings directory is in progress.
Walk through the cost calculator to model your Andersonville year with the FSA, the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the Illinois stack factored in. Read our subsidized daycare explainer for how CCDF and PFA work nationally, the Chicago cost overview, the broader cost pillar, and our nanny-share guide if you're weighing that route through the infant year. For neighboring north-side pockets, see Lakeview daycare and Lincoln Park daycare, or step back to all Chicago.
Neighborhood-by-neighborhood Chicago listings, CPS Universal Pre-K and PFA, and the CCAP voucher.
Read → CostCitywide tuition ranges with FSA, the federal credit, and the Illinois stack worked out.
Read → SubsidiesHow CCDF, Head Start, and state Pre-K programs work, and how Illinois Action for Children fits in.
Read →