Challenge is housing costs. A 3/2 SFH will run about $2M, which at current interest rates is about $12K. It takes childcare income from 6 kids just to pay the

Challenge is housing costs. A 3/2 SFH will run about $2M, which at current interest rates is about $12K. It takes childcare income from 6 kids just to pay the mortgage, and sole-proprietorship home daycares are limited to 8 kids total (less if some are infants). For people who already own their own home, though, it's a pretty attractive living if you like kids. Most of the home daycares we looked at are run by people who bought ~10-15 years ago, and they make a very good living, and oftentimes have the house fully paid off. Either that or they bought recently but are pooling resources from multiple family members to afford the house, and then have them helping out with the childcare.