Child Care Centers*
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Model of Health
Use the model to explore the measures of how long and how well we live and what shapes these trends. Select a measure in the diagram or browse the list of all measures.
Measures marked with an asterisk (*) are not included in summary calculations for Population Health and Well-being or Community Conditions.
About
Number of child care centers per 1,000 population under 5 years old. The 2025 Annual Data Release used data from 2010-2022 for this measure.
Accessible, affordable child care can increase opportunities for parents or guardians to pursue further education or participate in paid work to earn income and in some cases, gain healthcare and retirement benefits to support their families.1,2 Research has shown that, in addition to supporting economic security for families, access to high-quality child care contributes positively to a child’s health and development, especially for children from low-income or socially marginalized households.1
The presence of child care centers measures one aspect of child care availability. This measure can be interpreted alongside the measures of Child Care Cost Burden and Children in Single-parent Households.
Household structure, namely the presence of multiple adults in the household, including three-generation households, has been shown to affect the relationship between child care availability and employment because grandparents or other household members may provide child care within the home.3
The Child Care Centers measure comes from a data source that serves as a central authority for data from state agencies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. and is consistently updated. This measure captures an element of community infrastructure that supports children and families.
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Model of Health
Use the model to explore the measures of how long and how well we live and what shapes these trends. Select a measure in the diagram or browse the list of all measures.
Measures marked with an asterisk (*) are not included in summary calculations for Population Health and Well-being or Community Conditions.
Data and methods
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Data Source
Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD)
This Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD) Open Data site provides National foundation-level geospatial data within the open public domain that can be useful to support community preparedness, resiliency, research, and more. The Child Care Centers dataset contains locations of child day care centers for the 50 states of the USA, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The dataset only includes center based child day care locations (including those located at schools and religious institutes) and does not include group, home, and family based child day cares. All the data was acquired from respective states departments or their open source websites and only contains data provided by these sources.
Website to download data
For more detailed methodological information
Key Measure Methods
Child Care Centers is a rate
Child Care Centers measures the number of child care centers per 1,000 population under age five. Rates help us compare health data across counties with different population sizes.
Caution should be used when comparing these estimates across states
Child care centers are regulated by state licensing. Definitions of child care facilities vary by state making comparisons across states difficult. Data were acquired from respective state's departments and therefore may be subject to reporting differences.
Caution should be used when comparing these estimates across years
Caution should be used when comparing across years as multiple overlapping data years are used.
Measure limitations
The presence of child care centers measures one aspect of child care availability. Child care must also be affordable, high-quality, reliable and have sufficient enrollment capacity to effectively support households with children. This measure does not capture the quality, affordability, reliability, or enrollment opportunities relating to the centers counted in the dataset.
The dataset only includes center-based child day care locations (including those located at schools and religious institutes) and does not include group, home, or family-based child care.
Numerator
The numerator is the total number of child care centers in a county. The data include center-based child daycare locations (including those located at school and religious institutes) and does not include group, home, or family-based child care.
Denominator
The denominator is the total resident population under five years old in a county.
Can This Measure Be Used to Track Progress
The presence of child care centers measures one aspect of child care availability and may not be a strong measure of progress. Child care must also be affordable, high-quality, reliable and have sufficient enrollment capacity to effectively support households with children. This measure does not capture the quality, affordability, reliability, or enrollment opportunities relating to the centers counted in the data set.
Finding More Data
Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:
- Subcounty Area
The Child Care Centers measure comes from the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD). The source data includes geospatial data for the locations of the child care centers as well as a categorization of centers as center-based, school-based, Head Start, or religious facility.
The Diversity Data Kids - Child Opportunity Index includes a summary measures of early childhood education alongside other components of place-based opportunity for children.
The County Health Rankings measure of Child Care Cost Burden provides added context for understanding child care opportunities in your community.
References
- Magnuson K, Waldfogel J. Chapter 9: Delivering high-quality early childhood education and care to low-income children: How well is the U.S. doing? In: Gambero L, Stewart K, Waldfogel J, eds. An equal start? Providing quality early education and care for disadvantaged children. Bristol, UK: Bristol University Press. 2014:193-218. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt9qgznh.14
- Lyonette C, Kaufman G, Crompton R. ‘We both need to work’: Maternal employment, childcare and health care in Britain and the USA. Work, Employment and Society. 2011;25(1):34-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017010389243
- Asai Y, Kambayashi R Yamaguchi, S. Childcare availability, household structure, and maternal employment. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies. 2015;38:172-92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjie.2015.05.009