Military Child Care in 2026: What a CDC Costs by Rank, Who Gets a Spot First, and the $2,000 Fee Assistance Cap

$54 a week per child at the bottom, $236 at the top. That is the standard range on the DoD "Child Development Program Fees" chart for school year 2025-2026, the most recent chart on MilitaryChildCare.com as of October 13, 2026 (the site marks it "Published: 12/25"). The fee depends on one number, total family income, sorted into 12 categories. Settled: the chart, the way DoD counts income, the priority order for spots, and the PCS travel pilot described below. Not settled: the school year 2026-2027 chart. DoD reviews fees every year, and no newer chart was posted when this was written. Your installation's own fee sheet is what you will be billed from.

The DoD fee chart, all 12 categories

The chart is printed per child, per week, for full-time care at a child development center or school-age program. The two right-hand columns are optional market adjustments that a Service headquarters has to approve for an installation.

Three more lines sit under the table. DoD contractors and specified space-available patrons pay a flat $361 a week. The standard hourly care rate is $8.00. The cap for community-based fee assistance is $2,000 per child per month, covered further down.

What DoD counts as income, and why BAH is not your local rate

MilitaryChildCare.com spells out total family income line by line. For the member it is the "Base Pay" amount on the LES, plus BAS, plus BAH. The BAH is not the rate you are paid. The page says to "Include the non-locality BAH (also called BAH Reserve Component/Transit or BAH RC/T), even if you live in military housing," because it "does not vary by geographic location." Two Airmen of the same grade, one at Eglin and one in San Diego, land in the same category.

Special duty pays such as flight, dive, jump and sea pay count. A long list does not: hostile fire and imminent danger pay, hardship duty pay, hazardous duty incentive pay, reenlistment bonuses, the critical skills retention bonus, the foreign language proficiency bonus, family separation allowance, DLA, COLA and clothing allowance. A working spouse's gross pay counts, and so does a second military sponsor's BAS. For a dual-military couple, only the senior member's non-locality BAH goes in.

Where each grade lands on the chart

The table applies that definition to our 2026 data: basic pay from the DFAS table in our basic pay calculator, the with-dependents non-locality BAH from the DTMO table effective January 1, 2026, and the 2026 BAS from our BAS calculator ($476.95 enlisted, $328.48 officer). It assumes the member is the only earner. Add a spouse's gross pay and the family may move up one or more categories. The yearly figure is the standard weekly fee times 52; your center bills monthly, and its monthly number may be rounded differently.

The chart works out to roughly 6 to 7 percent of income at every grade in the table. The jump in dollars is what changes. An O-5 over 16 pays $154 a week more per child than an E-3, and over 52 weeks that is $8,008 per child. Counted special pay or a spouse's paycheck can push a family over a band edge. An E-7 over 12 sits $9,430.80 a year under the Category VII line of $102,501, so $785.90 a month of counted income on top of the table would move the family up one category and add $17 a week per child.

Who gets a spot first

DoD lists the order itself, "since the demand for military child care is higher than the number of slots available." Priority 1A is child development program staff. Priority 1B is single or dual active duty members, combat-related wounded warriors, and members whose spouse works full time. Full time means 30 hours a week or 100 hours a month, or fewer hours while also enrolled in college. Priority 1C covers a spouse working part time or seeking work. Priority 1D covers a spouse who is a full-time student. Next come DoD civilians, then space available. Space available includes active duty members with a spouse who does not work.

Inside a priority, the timestamp on your request for care decides the order, and you see an "anticipated placement time" instead of a waitlist number. MilitaryChildCare.com says you may request care "before you receive orders to a new duty station, before your baby is born or adopted." Two rules catch families by surprise. A spouse listed as seeking work "must get a job within 180 days, or your child could be removed from care." And a lower-priority family already enrolled can be disenrolled to make room for a higher-priority one.

Off-base care: fee assistance and the $2,000 cap

When an installation center has no room or is too far away, the Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood program pays part of the bill at a qualifying community provider. Child Care in Your Home does the same for an approved in-home provider. You pay the same DoD parent fee from the chart, "plus any amount the provider charges over the provider rate cap." That cap is $2,000 per child per month. If a center near the base charges $2,300 a month, the $300 above the cap is yours on top of the parent fee.

Moving with a waitlist: $500 or $1,500 toward a caregiver's travel

A pilot program running through September 30, 2027 reimburses commercial travel for a designated caregiver when no center spot opens within 30 days of the date you need care at the new duty station. The limits are "Up to $500" for a move within CONUS and "up to $1,500" to or from overseas, once per household. The caregiver must be at least 18 and not your dependent, the children must not have started school, and a married member's spouse must be working, looking for work, or a student. You request full-day care at the new installation's center with your arrival date as the date care is needed. MilitaryChildCare.com then issues a travel memo, and you file the claim through your travel office. Add it to your move planning in our PCS calculator, and if a child is enrolled in the EFMP, tell the center when you request care.