Trade / United States

How many child day care services are in the United States?

82,162 establishments with paid employees in 2023, +6.1% since 2017, employing 1,045,052 people.

UNITED STATES · 2023

82,162

child day care services

Employees: 1,045,052
Average per site: 12.7
Change since 2017: +6.1%
Under 5 employees: 36%

By state

Click a column heading to sort. The last column compares the trade's share of a state's employer businesses with its share nationally: 1.00x is the national average.

Filter states

#	State
1	California	9,670	89,288	+12.4%	0.96x
2	New York	6,702	84,613	+7.4%	1.26x
3	Texas	6,242	91,240	+11.0%	0.95x
4	Florida	4,651	64,646	+8.3%	0.73x
5	Pennsylvania	3,823	46,742	+0.2%	1.27x
6	Illinois	3,138	42,273	+2.9%	0.99x
7	Ohio	2,813	37,950	+4.3%	1.12x
8	North Carolina	2,612	35,736	+0.8%	1.03x
9	New Jersey	2,466	41,650	+1.0%	1.05x
10	Georgia	2,449	40,515	+6.3%	0.95x
11	Washington	2,386	22,898	+4.0%	1.20x
12	Massachusetts	2,309	32,471	+4.6%	1.28x
13	Michigan	2,090	24,365	+16.8%	0.93x
14	Virginia	1,977	27,909	+0.8%	0.95x
15	Wisconsin	1,588	19,025	−0.5%	1.12x
16	Oregon	1,517	13,335	+20.3%	1.26x
17	Maryland	1,505	20,056	−2.2%	1.07x
18	Minnesota	1,473	20,373	+1.8%	0.97x
19	Missouri	1,463	18,768	−4.0%	0.98x
20	Indiana	1,435	15,909	+0.7%	0.94x
21	Tennessee	1,242	16,838	−1.9%	0.84x
22	Colorado	1,239	16,720	+8.9%	0.69x
23	Oklahoma	1,055	12,353	+6.4%	1.11x
24	South Carolina	1,042	13,611	+15.5%	0.86x
25	Louisiana	1,040	13,400	+1.6%	0.97x
26	Alabama	988	12,163	+3.7%	0.95x
27	Arizona	965	13,790	+9.7%	0.60x
28	Connecticut	948	16,532	+0.6%	1.08x
29	Kentucky	925	12,432	+1.9%	1.00x
30	Iowa	895	13,051	+4.8%	1.09x
31	Mississippi	808	9,884	+4.0%	1.36x
32	Utah	745	7,760	+41.6%	0.79x
33	Nebraska	739	9,534	+6.5%	1.33x
34	Arkansas	728	11,708	+1.0%	1.05x
35	Maine	674	5,236	+6.3%	1.58x
36	Kansas	583	8,230	−0.3%	0.78x
37	Idaho	504	4,786	+15.1%	0.88x
38	Montana	488	3,364	+7.0%	1.17x
39	New Mexico	449	6,521	+14.0%	1.02x
40	New Hampshire	447	5,465	−7.8%	1.16x
41	West Virginia	407	5,031	+12.1%	1.16x
42	Nevada	400	5,958	+20.5%	0.53x
43	North Dakota	374	3,915	+13.0%	1.50x
44	Delaware	349	4,928	+0.3%	1.20x
45	District of Columbia	303	4,282	+11.8%	1.30x
46	South Dakota	280	4,004	+8.1%	0.98x
47	Rhode Island	279	4,032	+2.6%	0.96x
48	Vermont	272	2,780	−1.4%	1.33x
49	Hawaii	267	2,885	+0.4%	0.83x
50	Wyoming	245	2,195	−2.8%	1.04x
51	Alaska	173	1,902	0.0%	0.79x

Size of the businesses

Child day care in the U.S. by employees
Employees per site	Sites	Share
Under 5	29,830	36.3%
5 to 9	15,333	18.7%
10 to 19	19,719	24.0%
20 to 49	15,464	18.8%
50 to 99	1,439	1.8%
100 to 249	293	0.4%
250 to 499	26	0.0%
500 to 999	4	0.0%
1,000 or more	6	0.0%

Questions

How many child day care services are there in the United States?

82,162 establishments with paid employees in 2023 per the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns, employing 1,045,052 people.

Which state has the most child day care services?

California has the most with 9,670, followed by New York (6,702) and Texas (6,242). Large states lead simply because they have more people and businesses; the last column shows the trade's share of a state's businesses against the national share.

Read this before using the number

Establishments with paid employees only. Self-employed people with no staff are not in these counts. The figures describe existing businesses, not demand or earnings. See the disclaimer.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns (2023; change measured against 2017, 2019 and 2022). Establishments with paid employees only; employment and payroll carry Census noise infusion. Retrieved November 2, 2026. Method and sources.