680+ licensed providers from Ballard to Beacon Hill, with verified 2026 tuition ranges, parent reviews, and clear information on the Seattle Preschool Program and Early Achievers. Always free for families.
Tuition ranges are full-time, center-based monthly rates from 380+ Seattle providers, cross-checked against the Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families licensing database.
Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Magnolia, and parts of Ballard cluster at the top of the range. Beacon Hill, Columbia City, and Northgate offer the broadest mid-priced options.
Washington toddler ratios are among the tighter in the country, which keeps quality consistent but also keeps prices firm. Demand from tech employers sustains long waitlists.
The Seattle Preschool Program offers tuition-free or sliding-scale preschool for three- and four-year-olds at over 100 partner daycares across the city, funded by the Families and Education Levy.
Sources: Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Child Care Aware of America 2025 Washington state report, Child Care Aware of Washington, DaycareSquare Seattle operator survey (Q1 2026). Updated May 2026.
Eight verified providers across the city. The full directory holds 680+ listings — filter by neighborhood, age, accreditation, and cost.
Seattle tuition can swing $500 per month across a single light rail stop. These are the neighborhoods with the most active providers in our directory.
Seattle is one of the country's most expensive daycare markets and one of its most regulated. Tight ratios, a strong unionized workforce, and persistent demand from large tech employers all keep tuition firm. The city also runs one of the best-funded municipal preschool programs in the country, which can dramatically change the math for three- and four-year-olds.
The Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) offers tuition-free or sliding-scale preschool for three- and four-year-olds at over 100 partner daycares across the city, funded by the voter-approved Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy. Eligibility is mixed-income: every Seattle family can apply, with tuition set on a sliding scale by household size and income. Read our SPP walkthrough.
Early Achievers is Washington's quality rating and improvement system on a 1 to 5 level scale. Level 3, 4, and 5 programs operate above state minimum on curriculum, ratios, learning environment, and family engagement. Many SPP and Working Connections Child Care subsidy contracts require Early Achievers level 3 or higher, so quality and affordability often line up at the same providers.
Washington requires 1:4 for infants under twelve months, 1:7 for ages twelve to twenty-nine months, and 1:10 for ages thirty months to five years. Every legal daycare in Washington is licensed by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Every provider in our directory is cross-checked against that database monthly.
In addition to SPP, working families up to a state-set income threshold may qualify for Working Connections Child Care, Washington's subsidy program administered through DCYF. The city also runs the Child Care Assistance Program for families above the WCCC threshold. All families can use the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and a Dependent Care FSA. Our tax credit explainer walks through the math at common Seattle income levels.
Before your first tour, download the free DaycareSquare comparison checklist and the tour questions list.
Costs, licensing, Early Achievers, and subsidy programs across all of Washington.
View state page → Free toolPlug in your ZIP, child age, and care type. Get your personal monthly range in about sixty seconds.
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