How to hire a child care worker

Child care worker hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring child care workers in the United States:

HR departments typically spend 15% of their expenses on recruitment.
It usually takes about 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
It typically takes 36-42 days to fill a job opening.
The median cost to hire a child care worker is $1,633.
Small businesses spend an average of $1,105 per child care worker on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
There are currently 161,420 child care workers in the US and 136,963 job openings.
New York, NY, has the highest demand for child care workers, with 15 job openings.
New York, NY has the highest concentration of child care workers.

How to hire a child care worker, step by step

To hire a child care worker, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a child care worker:

Here's a step-by-step child care worker hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a child care worker job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new child care worker
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a child care worker do?

A child care worker is responsible for providing care and supervision to children while the parents or guardians are away. A child care worker's duty may involve changing diapers and preparing milk for infants and toddlers, devise strategies or fun activities where children can learn, arrange schedules to fit their needs such as nap times, and prepare healthy meals and snacks. Aside from ensuring children's safety, a child care worker must also monitor any sign of emotional or developmental issues so it can be brought to the parents' attention as soon as possible.

Learn more about the specifics of what a child care worker does

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Identify your hiring needs

Before you start hiring a child care worker, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

A child care worker's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, child care workers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

This list shows salaries for various types of child care workers.

Type of Child Care Worker	Description	Hourly rate
Child Care Worker	Childcare workers provide care for children when parents and other family members are unavailable. They attend to children’s basic needs, such as bathing and feeding... Show more	$9-23
Hair Stylist	A Hair Stylist's role is to provide services such as haircuts, treatments, coloring, styling, and even maintenance. Most of the time, the clients choose which style or treatment they would prefer, which is why a Hair Stylist must have extensive knowledge and keep up the current trends in Hair Styling... Show more	$12-25
Baby Sitter	A Baby Sitter is responsible for the welfare and safety of children while their parents or guardian are away. The tasks will vary on the age, behavior, or needs of the children... Show more	$10-21

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Child Care
- Crisis Intervention
- Behavioral Issues
- CPR
- Direct Supervision
- TCI
- Therapeutic Crisis
- Applied Behavior Analysis
- Mental Health
- Incident Reports
- Behavior Management
- Medical Appointments
- Child Abuse
- Direct Care
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Obtain certification in CPR to ensure minors would be properly resuscitate in an emergency.
- Require to maintain continuing education in courses including passive restraint, standard first aid and CPR.
- Complete accurate and timely documentation on kids' behavior as outlined by policy.
- Create math, reading, bible, and art lessons.
More child care worker duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in the child care worker job description is a good way to get more applicants. A child care worker salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

For example, the average salary for a child care worker in Nebraska may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level child care worker. Additionally, a child care worker with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

Average child care worker salary

$15.04hourly

$31,284 yearly

Entry-level child care worker salary

$19,000 yearly salary

Updated December 5, 2025

Average child care worker salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Massachusetts	$41,953	$20
2	Washington	$40,474	$19
3	Connecticut	$38,478	$19
4	California	$38,425	$18
5	New York	$34,818	$17
6	District of Columbia	$34,530	$17
7	New Jersey	$33,961	$16
8	Michigan	$32,575	$16
9	Oregon	$31,993	$15
10	Colorado	$31,398	$15
11	Virginia	$30,424	$15
12	Illinois	$30,340	$15
13	Maryland	$30,183	$15
14	Texas	$29,077	$14
15	Pennsylvania	$28,650	$14
16	Missouri	$28,442	$14
17	Utah	$27,964	$13
18	South Carolina	$26,606	$13
19	Nebraska	$25,243	$12
20	Oklahoma	$24,357	$12

Average child care worker salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Columbia University in the City of New York	$65,053	$31.28	5
2	University of Nevada, Reno	$58,596	$28.17	4
3	DATTCO	$40,927	$19.68
4	State Bar of Michigan	$39,618	$19.05	6
5	Linn County	$37,360	$17.96	1
6	Brea Olinda Unified School District	$36,798	$17.69	6
7	Lawrence Hall	$36,630	$17.61	6
8	Minneapolis Public Schools	$36,603	$17.60	4
9	Solana Beach School District	$35,889	$17.25
10	Volunteers of America, Utah	$35,669	$17.15
11	Seahawks	$35,633	$17.13
12	Long Beach Unified School District	$35,551	$17.09	5
13	Aspiranet	$35,417	$17.03	8
14	Charter Schools USA	$35,184	$16.92
15	Children's Home & Aid	$34,743	$16.70
16	Atlantis Charter School	$34,364	$16.52
17	Maryville Academy	$33,994	$16.34	6
18	Archdiocese Of San Antonio	$33,984	$16.34	31
19	PSEA	$33,956	$16.32	5
20	Arkansas Children's Hospital	$33,378	$16.05	10

Writing a child care worker job description
A job description for a child care worker role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a child care worker job description:
Child care worker job description example
*No Phone Calls, Please, Inquiring About the Job or Your Submitted Resume. We Will Review Your Resume and Determine If It Meets the Required Qualifications Listed and Send An Email With Further Instructions On Applying For The Job. Thank You.*
*Must Be At Least 21 Years Old and Have a Valid GA Driver's License.*

*Purpose: **Child Care Support Staff/Worker *provides for the day-to-day care, nurturing, supervision, and development of the youth assigned. The Methodist Home for Children and Youth is seeking self-motivated, energetic professionals to mentor and nurture youth and adolescents. Child Care Support Staff create a sanctuary that enables youth to heal past hurts, build positive relationships and grow to their full potential. Current openings include Full Time Overnight.

*Essential Duties and Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: *

Supervision/Safety: Maintains supervision of residents in accordance with Policy and Procedure. Establishes and maintains an environment that promotes the safety of the residents *at all times.*

Crisis Management: Handle crises in such a way to provide a positive, therapeutic impact on the program.

Relationship Building: Develop and maintain effective therapeutic relationships.

*Education and/or Work Experience Requirements include but are not limited to the following: *

Bachelor's Degree (preferably in Human Services related field) or High School Diploma combined with experience working with children/adolescents in a residential environment or licensed daycare center or school. CNA's and Caregivers with 4 years of experience working for a licensed agency and with the disabled, the elderly, or youth may apply.

Knowledge of child care practices, developmental issues, and group processes and practices is important to this position.

Knowledge and demonstrated skills related to theory and practices for emotionally disturbed children.

*Required Safety/Background Checks: *All applicants must consent, and receive clearance from the following local, state, and national agencies:

Bibb County Sheriff's Department

Department of Juvenile Justice (fingerprint required)

Department of Human Services (fingerprint required)

Motor Vehicle Record (our insurance carrier must approve the applicant driving record)

Child Abuse Registry

Department of Corrections

Pardons and Parole

Sex Offenders Registry

Medicaid Fraud

Job Types: Full-time Overnight

Pay: $13.67 per hour

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $13.38 per hour

Benefits:
* Dental insurance
* Employee assistance program
* Health insurance
* Life insurance
* Paid time off
* Retirement plan
* Vision insurance
Schedule:
* 10 hour shift
* 8 hour shift
* Evening shift
* Weekend availability

Ability to commute/relocate:
* Valdosta, GA 31605: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Preferred)

Experience:
* Child Care: 2 years (Preferred)

Shift availability:
* Night Shift (Preferred)
* Overnight Shift (Preferred)

Work Location: One location
Post your job
To find child care workers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any child care workers they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level child care workers with the right educational background.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your child care worker job on Zippia to find and recruit child care worker candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Recruiting child care workers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.
You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new child care worker
Once you have selected a candidate for the child care worker position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.
It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
To prepare for the new child care worker first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a child care worker?

Before you start to hire child care workers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire child care workers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

The median annual salary for child care workers is $31,284 in the US. However, the cost of child care worker hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring a child care worker for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $9 and $23 an hour.

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Updated December 5, 2025

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How to hire a child care worker