Childcare Availability by State: Children Under 5 per Provider

Last updated: October 14, 2026

This table compares each state’s population of children under 5 with its number of employer child care establishments and nonemployer child care businesses. Across the 50 states and D.C., 18,365,047 children under 5 divided by 82,162 employer establishments gives about 224 children per establishment. Use these ratios to compare business density; they do not count licensed places or open seats.

The highest children-per-employer-establishment ratios are Nevada (424), Arizona (408), Tennessee (330), Texas (313), and Utah (307). The lowest are Maine (87), Vermont (99), Montana (111), Wyoming (116), and North Dakota (117). Including nonemployer businesses, Hawaii has the highest ratio (74), followed by Utah (50), New Mexico (48), Idaho (48), and Delaware (46).

Children under 5 per child care provider, all 50 states and D.C.

How to read this — and how not to

Provider counts do not tell you whether a particular property can operate as a daycare. Our childcare zoning reform comparison explains selected state changes that affect where homes and centers can open.

Business counts do not measure access to financial assistance. Our review of subsidy waitlists versus available childcare places separates subsidy program restrictions from physical capacity and preserves the dates and geographic scope of each finding.

• Business density, not capacity: a large center and a small business each count as one. These businesses can also serve children older than five. The ratios do not measure licensed places, vacancies, waiting lists, or unmet demand.
• Nonemployer does not mean licensed home daycare: Census counts businesses with no paid employees that meet its tax and receipts criteria. These include sole proprietorships and some partnerships and corporations. The classification does not establish home location or licensing status.
• Data vintages: population is from the 2024 ACS 1-year estimates; employer establishments and nonemployer businesses are from 2023. The industry filters are NAICS 2017 code 6244 for employer establishments and NAICS 2022 code 62441 for nonemployers. Care classified in other industries is outside these counts.
• Planning use: compare these figures with local licensed capacity, enrollment, family schedules, staffing and property costs. Our state daycare guides explain licensing, childcare prices by state provides historical price context, and daycare industry statistics covers the wider industry.

Childcare jobs are shrinking even as providers open

Added October 6, 2026 · BLS QCEW 2026 Q1 · BLS CES through September 2026 · Last updated October 6, 2026

31 of 51 stateslost private childcare jobs between March 2025 and March 2026 (BLS). U.S. employment at childcare businesses fell 1.1% to 988,501, while the number of childcare establishments rose 0.9% to 79,617.

The provider counts above tell you how much childcare exists relative to young children. Staffing tells you how much of it can actually run. A center licensed for 100 children that can only hire teachers for 70 is, in practice, a 70-child center.

• Biggest drops: Mississippi (−12.2%), Indiana (−9.9%), Oklahoma (−7.6%), Arizona (−5.2%) and Alaska (−5.2%).
• Biggest gains: District of Columbia (+8.4%), New Mexico (+5.2%) and Tennessee (+4.8%).
• More businesses, fewer workers. Establishments grew in 29 of 51 states. More, smaller providers sharing a smaller workforce means more competition for each hire.
• Pay rose a little. The average private childcare worker earned $632 a week in 2026 Q1, up 2.6% from a year earlier.

The national monthly count gives a more current read: 1,086.3 thousand childcare employees in September 2026 (preliminary), against 1,093.9 thousand a year earlier and a peak of 1,102.1 thousand in January 2026.

Childcare businesses and jobs by state, 2026 Q1

Click a column header to sort. State names link to our guide to opening a daycare in that state. A dash means BLS withheld the figure to protect employer privacy.

State	Childcare establishments	Change vs. year ago	Employees, March 2026	Job change vs. year ago	Average weekly wage
Mississippi	883	+29	9,182	−12.2%	$491
Indiana	1,317	-19	13,750	−9.9%	$555
Oklahoma	950	-33	10,353	−7.6%	$467
Arizona	826	+6	12,999	−5.2%	$630
Alaska	133	+1	1,619	−5.2%	$611
Arkansas	808	-19	11,322	−4.8%	$531
Nevada	354	+6	5,144	−4.6%	$563
Georgia	2,637	-80	33,312	−4.4%	$577
North Carolina	2,514	+76	30,852	−4.4%	$597
Louisiana	1,251	+23	12,134	−3.1%	$491
Texas	6,131	+25	82,530	−3.0%	$557
New Jersey	2,401	+13	41,727	−2.4%	$676
Florida	4,551	+52	60,265	−2.1%	$633
Ohio	2,835	-24	34,146	−1.9%	$562
Maine	617	-30	5,710	−1.8%	$653
Idaho	517	-65	3,922	−1.7%	$431
Delaware	292	-12	3,884	−1.7%	$642
Utah	662	-13	8,045	−1.6%	$514
Wyoming	205	+0	2,332	−1.6%	$557
Iowa	805	-6	13,022	−1.0%	$443
Missouri	1,341	-3	17,066	−1.0%	$570
Colorado	1,111	+44	17,175	−1.0%	$722
Kentucky	1,045	+8	12,848	−0.9%	$501
Washington	2,374	+143	22,992	−0.9%	$735
Connecticut	966	+3	15,778	−0.8%	$633
New York	6,285	-129	81,066	−0.6%	$713
Alabama	1,078	+37	11,772	−0.6%	$493
Kansas	468	+3	7,015	−0.4%	$507
Rhode Island	314	-6	4,128	−0.4%	$663
Maryland	1,316	-27	19,316	−0.3%	$687
Wisconsin	1,531	+17	19,020	−0.1%	$588
Nebraska	721	+2	10,312	+0.1%	$488
Virginia	1,829	+32	25,535	+0.1%	$621
Illinois	2,914	+87	39,270	+0.3%	$686
West Virginia	452	-13	4,467	+0.5%	$455
Oregon	1,637	-19	14,768	+0.5%	$699
Vermont	268	-7	3,223	+0.7%	$713
Massachusetts	2,131	+100	32,468	+1.0%	$788
Minnesota	1,256	+9	18,892	+1.0%	$623
Michigan	1,733	-32	21,178	+1.3%	$552
South Dakota	246	+4	3,749	+1.4%	$448
Montana	486	+17	3,476	+1.4%	$520
South Carolina	841	+5	10,943	+1.4%	$569
California	9,755	+363	86,166	+1.7%	$794
Pennsylvania	3,734	+85	47,147	+1.9%	$610
New Hampshire	443	-8	5,781	+1.9%	$647
Hawaii	380	-19	3,609	+2.4%	$764
North Dakota	362	+17	4,392	+3.5%	$444
Tennessee	1,195	+62	17,122	+4.8%	$550
New Mexico	438	-6	7,236	+5.2%	$684
District of Columbia	278	+12	4,341	+8.4%	$997

Download the childcare jobs data (CSV)

What this means if you’re opening a daycare

Nevada and Arizona stand out in the provider-density comparison. If you are planning to open there, use Nevada daycare insurance or Arizona daycare insurance to put a coverage quote alongside your premises and staffing estimates.

The childcare workforce is shrinking in most states, so plan for hiring to be slow and competitive. Before you sign a lease, find out what local centers pay and plan to match it. Build staffing into your enrollment plan: your licensed capacity only counts if you can meet your state’s staff-to-child ratios every day. The daycare break-even calculator shows how wages and enrollment interact, and our daycare wages vs. prices page compares what workers earn with what families pay. If you plan to take subsidized children, check childcare subsidy funding by state. To see how much each state’s childcare workforce relies on immigrants, see immigrant childcare workers by state.

How we measured this. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2026 Q1, NAICS 624410 (child care services), private ownership, state rows. Employment is the third month of the quarter (March 2026); changes use BLS’s own over-the-year fields. QCEW counts jobs covered by unemployment insurance, so it leaves out self-employed home providers with no employees. Public programs such as Head Start run by schools or governments are not in the private count. National monthly figures come from BLS Current Employment Statistics, series CES6562440001 (seasonally adjusted); the two most recent months are preliminary.

Frequently asked questions

Which states have the least childcare relative to young children?

In this business-density comparison, Nevada has the highest under-five population per employer child care establishment (424), followed by Arizona (408), Tennessee (330), Texas (313), and Utah (307). Including nonemployer businesses, Hawaii has the highest ratio (74). These figures do not identify the states with the fewest licensed seats or vacancies.

Which states have the most childcare providers per child?

Maine has the lowest under-five population per employer child care establishment (87), followed by Vermont (99), Montana (111), Wyoming (116), and North Dakota (117). Establishment size varies, so this is a comparison of business density rather than available childcare places.

Is this the same as a childcare desert measure?

No. This measure divides under-five population by business counts. It does not count licensed childcare places or children needing care, which are necessary to assess capacity gaps.

What do these numbers mean for opening a daycare?

A higher ratio means more young children relative to counted businesses. Use it to frame local research: check licensed capacity, age groups, vacancies, parent schedules, tuition, staffing and property costs before estimating enrollment or revenue.

Are childcare jobs growing or shrinking?

Shrinking in most states. Private childcare employment fell in 31 of 51 states between March 2025 and March 2026 (BLS QCEW). Nationally it dropped 1.1% to 988,501, even though the number of childcare businesses rose.

Which states lost the most childcare jobs?

Mississippi (−12.2%), Indiana (−9.9%) and Oklahoma (−7.6%) had the steepest drops in private childcare employment from March 2025 to March 2026.

Related research: how childcare wages compare with what parents pay, and Fair Market Rent vs daycare prices, state by state. For a purchasing-power twist — BEA regional price parities vs those wages and prices — see regional price parities vs wages and daycare. For ACS household structure (young-child households and working parents) — demand context that is not kids-per-provider — see home-services demand by state.

Sources

We calculated both ratios from the Census series linked above and rounded to the nearest whole number. On September 11, 2026, all 153 population and business counts across the 51 rows matched fresh Census API responses, and all 102 ratios were recalculated. This measures business density, not licensed capacity or open slots.