About 7 in 10 children under 6 live in families where every parent works or is looking for work, Census data show, and the share varies by more than 20 points across states.
69.6% of U.S. children under 6 lived in families where every parent was in the labor force in 2024, according to the Census Bureau (margin of error ±0.3). That’s about 14.7 million young kids, whether they live with two working parents or one working single parent. “In the labor force” means working or looking for work.
The share ranges widely by state. The highest:
- Minnesota: 78.9% (±1.5)
- Delaware: 77.9% (±4.0)
- Massachusetts: 77.7% (±1.7)
- Connecticut: 77.4% (±2.5)
The lowest:
- Utah: 55.6% (±2.3)
- Idaho: 57.1% (±3.0)
- Alaska: 63.2% (±4.2)
Why it matters for child care
When every parent in a family works, someone else has to watch the kids during work hours: a child care center, a home daycare, a relative or a nanny. This number is a rough gauge of how many young children may need care. It doesn’t measure how many families actually use paid care, and part-time work counts the same as full-time.
New numbers are coming soon. The Census Bureau releases 2025 survey results on October 29, 2026 (release schedule), and we’ll update this page then.
What this means if you’re opening a daycare
States where most parents of young children work, such as Minnesota, may have more families looking for care. Check local wait lists and licensing rules too. See our guides to daycare insurance in Minnesota and daycare insurance in Wisconsin, and for startup money, our daycare loans guide.
How we got these numbers
Figures come from the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, table DP03 (“own children of the householder under 6 years, all parents in family in labor force”), with Census-published 90% margins of error. We cross-checked the national figure against table B23008 (69.6%). The data cover children living with one or both parents and leave out kids living with grandparents or other relatives only. This page uses 2024 data; the 2025 release on October 29 will replace it. Data pulled October 17, 2026.