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Page 15 Table 4. Mississippi Center-based Child Care Weekly Market Rates Mean Median 75th percentile Infant Full-time $148 $144 $167 Part-time $104 $90 $120 Toddler Full-time $141 $135 $160 Part-time $99 $87 $120 2-year-old Full-time $138 $130 $150 Part-time $96 $83 $120 Preschool Full-time $132 $127 $150 Part-time $80 $73 $90 School age Full-time $110 $110 $130 Part-time $77 $70 $80 Table 5 shows the full-time rates for children with special needs among providers who indicated charging different tuition rates for children with special needs. Forty-four percent of providers reported serving children with special needs, and of these, 30% reported charging a different rate for this category of care. The number of providers who gave a separate valid rate for children with special needs ranged from 96 to 105, depending on age group. Rates for children with special needs were higher across all age groups than in the previous Market Rate Survey. Table 5. Mississippi Center-based Child Care Full-time Weekly Market Rates for Children with Special Needs Mean Median 75th percentile Infant $156 $145 $175 Toddler $157 $150 $175 2-year-old $157 $145 $165 Preschool $154 $145 $165 School age $141 $145 $160 Table 6 shows center-based child care rates disaggregated by metropolitan status. Providers were classified according to their county of business using the 2013 National Center for Health Statistics Urban-Rural Classification Scheme, which categorizes each county into one of six categories.2 This includes four metropolitan categories (large central, large fringe, medium, and small) and two nonmetropolitan categories (micropolitan and non-core). These were combined to compare metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Based on this scheme, 46% of providers were located in metropolitan counties, and 54% were located in nonmetropolitan counties. The rates were higher in metropolitan areas compared to nonmetropolitan areas. Weekly center-based rates have increased since 2021 for both metro and non-metro areas, but the increases have not been as great in non- metro areas.