day care costs in eden prairie area (Minneapolis, St. Paul: real estate, home)

[mnborn]

My family is looking at moving to Eden Prairie from out of state. We would like to put our 2 children in a home daycare. Does anyone have any suggestions and also what should we expect for the cost of home day care to be.

[Duk123]

How old are they? 0-3 year old $200 to $250. 3-5 year old $150-$200. Minneapolis/St. Paul metro has some of the highest daycare costs in the country.

[Wittyname32]

Why are costs so high in The Twin Cities when other costs, like real estate, are lower?

[umionou]

Originally Posted by Duk123

How old are they? 0-3 year old $200 to $250. 3-5 year old $150-$200. Minneapolis/St. Paul metro has some of the highest daycare costs in the country.

Is this per week or what?

[uptown_urbanist]

Per week.

Daycare centers are usually more expensive than the in-home daycares. I've read that the gap between the cost of the home-based daycares and the centers is also among the highest in the country (or is possibly THE highest).

I'm not sure why the cost is so high in Minnesota, and as far as I know, the experts don't, either. I saw one article that suggested that perhaps some of it is because more children in the metro area are using centers, while those in smaller towns/rural areas are more likely to have access to family members to watch the kids. I don't think daycare prices in the Twin Cities are any more (in fact, I think overall they are a bit cheaper) than the other cities where we've lived post-child, and the ratio of staff-children isn't any different. I know some states have higher staff/child ratios, and presumably those states are cheaper. Minnesota used to have pretty generous daycare subsidies, I believe, but that has changed in recent years.

Not sure about the costs for in-home daycare in Eden Prairie, but the numbers cited above sound similar to some of our casual research. Maybe see if there's a discount for siblings? I'm assuming the OP wants full-time care; finding part-time is much more difficult, at least if you want the in-home option.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Wittyname32

Why are costs so high in The Twin Cities when other costs, like real estate, are lower?

More people are willing to pay it?

Real estate isn't that low in the Twin Cities, BTW. Even now, you still pay more for a property up there than you do in some other metros.

[Drewcifer]

Most labor intensive services in the Twin Cities are pretty expensive IMO, restaurants, car repair and hair care are similar. I think it has to do with having a higher blue collar pay scale than other cities.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Drewcifer

Most labor intensive services in the Twin Cities are pretty expensive IMO, restaurants, car repair and hair care are similar. I think it has to do with having a higher blue collar pay scale than other cities.

Some wait staff in Georgia are still paid $2.13/hour plus tips. In MN, they are paid $7.25 these days, aren't they?

[forbiddenfruit88]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Some wait staff in Georgia are still paid $2.13/hour plus tips. In MN, they are paid $7.25 these days, aren't they?

I'm a server at a chain restaurant in MN and yes, we are paid $7.25 (minimum wage in MN). I have heard from servers I work with that neighboring states, such as WI are paid $2.XX/hr. Which basically accounts for their tips. Sometimes servers there will get paychecks for $0.25 after the taxes are taken out.

As for the going child care rate. I personally would feel uneasy paying someone/an agency so little to take care of, and influence someone so important to me.