A short, honest guide to Arkansas daycare.
Arkansas is one of the most affordable daycare markets in the country, with infant care in most cities running below $1,000 per month. The Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) Pre-K program has been one of the longest-running state-funded Pre-K programs in the country and meets eight of the ten National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) quality benchmarks, although seats are income-qualified rather than universal.
Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) Pre-K
ABC is Arkansas's free, voluntary state-funded Pre-K program for three- and four-year-olds in families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. ABC seats are offered at participating school districts, approved community-based child care providers, Head Start sites, and university lab schools. Programs that hold ABC funding follow state standards on class size, ratios, qualified teachers, screenings, and curriculum. Read our ABC Pre-K walkthrough.
Source: Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education ABC Pre-K Annual Report 2024-2025; NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook 2024. Approximately 20,000 three- and four-year-olds enrolled in ABC Pre-K in 2024-2025; Arkansas meets 8 of 10 NIEER quality benchmarks.
Better Beginnings quality ratings
Better Beginnings is Arkansas's voluntary Quality Rating and Improvement System, administered by the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. Programs earn one through three stars based on staff qualifications, professional development, curriculum, ratios, and family engagement. Three-star programs represent meaningful investment above licensing minimums. Filter our directory by Better Beginnings star level.
Arkansas licensing and ratios
The Arkansas Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE), within the Department of Education, licenses every legal child care center and registered family child care home in the state. Center ratios are 1:6 for infants under twelve months, 1:9 for twelve to thirty months, 1:12 for two- to three-year-olds, and 1:15 for three- to five-year-olds. Every provider in our directory is cross-checked monthly.
Financial help in Arkansas
The Arkansas Child Care Voucher Program, administered through DCCECE, subsidizes care for working families up to a state-set income threshold using federal CCDF funding. ABC Pre-K, federal Head Start, and Early Head Start fund additional free seats. Arkansas also offers a state Child Care Tax Credit on top of the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. Our tax credit explainer walks through the math.
Where Arkansas parents tend to overpay
- Paying private preschool tuition for an income-eligible three- or four-year-old without applying for ABC Pre-K through their local school district or approved community provider.
- Defaulting to the most visible Bentonville or West Little Rock center when a Three-Star Better Beginnings program a few miles away runs $100 to $250 less per month.
- Skipping the Child Care Voucher application; the state income threshold reaches further than many working families assume.
Before your first tour, download the free DaycareSquare comparison checklist and the tour questions list.
