Fort Worth runs slightly below the Dallas side of the Metroplex on daycare prices and well below Austin, with Westover Hills, Tanglewood, Mira Vista, TCU and University Park West, and the Southlake-Colleyville-Keller suburban corridor setting the metro top. Stop Six, Como, Polytechnic Heights, and parts of east Fort Worth sit at the bottom. Texas does not have universal pre-K, but HB 3 entitles eligible four-year-olds to free full-day district pre-K through Fort Worth ISD and the surrounding Tarrant County districts.
In 2026 dollars, full-time center-based daycare in Fort Worth runs roughly $1,150 to $1,650 per month for infants and roughly $950 to $1,325 per month for preschool-age children. Licensed family child care homes (regulated under 26 TAC Ch. 745) and registered home child care (Ch. 749) typically charge 25 to 35 percent less than centers in the same neighborhood. These ranges come from the National Database of Childcare Prices for the Fort Worth-Arlington metro and Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County market-rate work, not single-point averages.
Infant care in Fort Worth typically prices 25 to 35 percent above preschool-age care because of Texas's ratio rules. The state sets the center infant ratio at 1:4 for children under 12 months under 26 TAC 746, with a maximum group size of 10 infants. The arithmetic of paying multiple credentialed teachers across small infant rooms is what makes infant rooms the most expensive line item in any Fort Worth center's budget, particularly at Texas Rising Star 3- and 4-Star centers.
| Area | Infant, center | Preschool, center | Family child care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southlake, Colleyville, Westlake | $1,500–$1,650 / month | $1,200–$1,325 / month | $1,050–$1,175 / month |
| Westover Hills, Tanglewood, Mira Vista | $1,425–$1,575 / month | $1,175–$1,300 / month | $1,025–$1,150 / month |
| TCU, University Park West, Cultural District | $1,375–$1,525 / month | $1,150–$1,275 / month | $1,000–$1,125 / month |
| Keller, Roanoke, Trophy Club | $1,325–$1,475 / month | $1,125–$1,250 / month | $975–$1,100 / month |
| Near Southside, Fairmount, Berkeley | $1,275–$1,425 / month | $1,075–$1,200 / month | $925–$1,050 / month |
| Arlington Heights, Camp Bowie corridor | $1,250–$1,400 / month | $1,050–$1,175 / month | $900–$1,025 / month |
| Alliance, North Fort Worth, Heritage | $1,225–$1,375 / month | $1,025–$1,150 / month | $875–$1,000 / month |
| Downtown, Sundance Square, Foundry District | $1,200–$1,350 / month | $1,000–$1,125 / month | $850–$975 / month |
| Burleson, Crowley, Forest Hill (Crowley ISD) | $1,175–$1,300 / month | $975–$1,100 / month | $825–$950 / month |
| Stop Six, Como, Polytechnic Heights, east Fort Worth | $1,150–$1,275 / month | $950–$1,050 / month | $800–$925 / month |
These ranges represent licensed care at Texas Rising Star 3- and 4-Star centers and similarly accredited sites, not subsidized seats or unrated providers. Southlake, Colleyville, Westover Hills, Tanglewood, and Mira Vista sit at the top of the metro range. Stop Six, Como, Polytechnic Heights, and east Fort Worth sit at the bottom, though still above the rural Texas median.
If your child is four during the school year and your household meets one of the HB 3 eligibility categories, Texas public pre-K materially changes the math. HB 3, the 2019 school finance reform, requires Texas school districts to offer free full-day pre-K (versus the half-day program that preceded it) for income-qualifying four-year-olds at or below the federal free-or-reduced-price lunch threshold, English learners, foster children, children of active-duty military parents, children of first responders killed in the line of duty, homeless children under McKinney-Vento, and Star of Texas Award recipients. Fort Worth ISD's Early Learning Department runs pre-K classrooms across the district. Crowley ISD, Keller ISD, Northwest ISD, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, and Birdville ISD all run district pre-K classrooms under the same statute.
Federally funded Head Start operates locally through Child Care Associates (the Tarrant County designated grantee) and the Greater Fort Worth Community Action Agency, with full-day Early Head Start options for children under three. Many Fort Worth Head Start sites partner with Texas Rising Star 4-Star centers to deliver mixed-delivery pre-K under the HB 3 funding formula, which means a single center can hold Head Start, HB 3 pre-K, and private full-pay seats in the same building.
Heads up. Texas's HB 3 pre-K is not universal. If you're outside the eligibility categories, your four-year-old's seat is still private-pay or CCS-subsidized. Fort Worth ISD does run a tuition-based pre-K for some non-eligible families at selected sites — verify availability with the district's Early Learning Department before you build it into your budget.
For infants, toddlers, and four-year-olds outside the HB 3 categories, Texas Child Care Services (CCS) is the federal CCDF subsidy. CCS covers a portion of licensed child care for working families up to 85 percent of state median income at entry, administered by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and locally by Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. Co-payments are sliding-scale, capped, and tied to working, in-school, or workforce-training status (Texas's CCS is one of the few CCDF programs in the country with an explicit work requirement). Approved families must use a CCS-enrolled provider.
Texas Rising Star (TRS), the Texas QRIS, runs four levels — Not Rated (CCS-eligible but unrated), 2-Star, 3-Star, and 4-Star (with TRS 4-Star tied to higher CCS reimbursement and to HB 3 mixed-delivery eligibility). When you tour a Tanglewood, TCU, or Westover Hills center, the TRS star rating is the single most useful state-published quality signal. Child Care Associates publishes searchable provider lists and TRS star levels for the Tarrant County metro.
Texas has no state income tax, so the credit math is simpler than in most of the country. Three federal tools stack on top of any HB 3 placement or CCS subsidy: the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit on IRS Form 2441, the Dependent Care FSA at most employers (up to $5,000 per family per year of pre-tax savings), and the federal Child Tax Credit. There is no state-level Child and Dependent Care Credit and no state Child Tax Credit. Bell Textron, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, BNSF Railway, American Airlines, Texas Health Resources, JPS Health Network, Alcon, and most major Fort Worth employers offer a Dependent Care FSA.
A two-earner Fort Worth household typically recovers the full $5,000 Dependent Care FSA benefit, which works out to roughly $1,250 to $1,550 in federal tax savings depending on marginal rate. The federal Child and Dependent Care Credit recovers an additional $600 to $1,200 of qualifying expenses on top.
A two-income Tanglewood family with a one-year-old in full-time licensed center care spends roughly $1,425 to $1,575 per month, or $17,100 to $18,900 per year, per the National Database of Childcare Prices for Tarrant County and Workforce Solutions market-rate work.
If the family qualifies for CCS — household income at or below 85 percent of state median income and both parents working, in school, or in training — the sliding-scale co-payment lands somewhere around $155 to $340 per month, with CCS covering the balance at the provider's Texas Rising Star reimbursement rate.
If the family is over the CCS ceiling, the full private rate stands. A Dependent Care FSA recovers $5,000 in pre-tax savings, the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit recovers an additional $600 to $1,200, and the federal Child Tax Credit applies for each qualifying child under 17.
Walk through the cost calculator to model your own Fort Worth year with HB 3 pre-K, CCS, FSA, and the federal credits factored in. Use the comparison checklist and tour questions when you start visiting centers. Read the Texas Pre-K explainer, our subsidized daycare guide, the Texas state cost overview, and the broader cost pillar.
For neighborhood and listing detail, see daycare in Fort Worth overall and the editorial best daycares in Fort Worth roundup. Tanglewood, TCU, Westover Hills, Southlake, and Keller neighborhood guides are in progress.
Neighborhoods, listings, CCS-enrolled sites, and the full Fort Worth early-learning landscape.
Read → Pre-KHow Texas's targeted public pre-K works, who qualifies under HB 3, and how Fort Worth ISD runs the program.
Read → ToolModel your Fort Worth daycare year with CCS, FSA, and the federal credits factored in.
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