Salary Range

• The average salary for daycare directors as of May 2009 was $23.16 per hour, equaling $48,170 per year, as noted by the BLS. The middle 50 percent of daycare directors were making $15.39 to $27.98 per hour, or $32,010 to $58,190 per year. The bottom 10 percent had pay rates of $12.62 per hour and below, and the top 10 percent $38.71 per hour and higher, or $80,530 and more.
  
  

Types of Employment

• The highest-paying opportunity on average for daycare directors is with centers affiliated with elementary and secondary schools. The average pay rate there in 2009 was $32.51 per hour, or $67,610 per year. Most daycare directors worked for independent daycare services, earning $20.49 per hour, or $42,620 per year. Others found employment with daycare centers associated with civic and social organizations, where the average salary was $42,400 per year, with individual and family services at $48,550 and with religious organizations at $55,480.
  
  

Geography

• The highest-paying regions for daycare directors are mainly on the east and west coasts. The highest average salary in 2009 by state or district was in New York State, at $28.92 per hour, or $60,150 per year. Daycare directors in the District of Columbia earned an average salary of $59,710 per year, in Rhode Island $56,860, in New Jersey $55,030 and in California $54,170. The highest-paying metropolitan area for daycare center directors was the San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City area, at an average salary of $79,480 per year.
  
  

Outlook

• This career should experience significant employment growth as more parents enroll young children in daycare centers and other formal programs, according to the BLS. The largest increases in enrollment are likely in the west and the south regions of the country, where the population is increasing faster than in other areas.