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Price was higher on the list, but location was up there in importance. We only considered centers, though. In-home would have been cheaper, but we wanted a center so we didn't consider any in-home.

We toured centers at multiple distances and prices. Some were closer to work, closer to home and even some out of our way. In the end there was no difference in care that made us want to sacrifice price or distance. Meaning if we drove further they were the same price and similar quality. If we stayed close there were some cheaper but not enough we wanted to sacrifice that much quality.

I think you should be open to both and tour. Some that you may really think you like will give you a totally different vibe in person.

We never really researched in home care because nothing came up in basic asking around of friends and I didn't want to research it.

@lawbee11: director oversight was a big deal for us and was a big deal in centers. Some places we toured were like old houses so each "classroom" was really a bedroom (large though) but the teacher and the class was behind a closed door.

Location was the kicker for us. Our in home is 1/4 mile away.

All other things being equal location would be much more important to me than price. You have to go there every day twice a day and if it's inconvenient that will get old really fast.

Location was more important for us - time is money and less commuting time between work/daycare means less $$ spent on gas and more family time.

Price was a big factor, but we would have paid a little more for one that was closer to home/work.
Luckily, we found our ideal day care (in home, highly recommended by friends) right on DH's way to work. So it all worked out.

Location will be our deciding factor in the fall!

Location -- her center is right across the street from my office so I can go at lunchtime to nurse her

Location! Daycares here are all pretty much the same price. Our daycare is a 5min walk, but there are a few even closer that didn't have openings.

Location. Having a shorter commute is one of the top ways to improve your quality of life I recently read somewhere. We moved farther away from Olive's daycare (used to live a block away), and it has dramatically impacted our quality of life, especially this long winter!

For us it was both price and location PLUS hours offered. At the time DH and I both had a 45-60 min commute in opposite directions so we choose a center close to our house to allow both of us the ability to drop off/pick up. We looked at several and found that they were all within about $100 of each other. Some included food in that price whereas others did not; those that included food required you to eat the food they provided which was actually a turnoff for us since we wanted to have better control over DD's diet. We only looked at centers because at the time we weren't familiar with any in-home and since DD was going to be 8w when she started I liked the structure/oversight a center provided as many in-homes in our area are not registered/licensed; plus I liked that if the normal teacher(s) were sick they would have someone to cover rather than us having to find alternate care.

I definitely suggest visiting, the admin at the center we ultimately picked encouraged us to do drop-in visits at places (including theirs) because that allows you to see how they handle different aspects of the day. Because of my work schedule, I wasn't able to do so but DH was and that influenced his decision.

We had a few options based on my commute to work and, in the end, went with the arrangement we felt was the best fit overall. Location had a huge part to do with this, but the price did too, so I guess they were equal for our situation