Twelve million children under five received care in recent years, yet nearly a quarter experienced disruptions to their arrangements. This data details the scale of the daycare market, workforce challenges, and persistent affordability issues for families.
Key Takeaways
- 1.1 million licensed child care providers in the U.S. (excluding school-age care) in 2022
- 12.1 million children under age 5 received child care arrangements in the U.S. in 2019
- In 2022, 3,010,000 children were enrolled in CCDF-funded care arrangements (unduplicated count)
- In 2022, 12,000+ Head Start classrooms met required health/safety standards for child well-being (program-wide PIR indicators)
- A 2019 peer-reviewed study linked early education quality to improved long-run outcomes, including educational attainment
- In 2023, 78% of Head Start agencies reported meeting or exceeding recruitment and enrollment goals (program-level performance reporting)
- In 2023, child care workers had a median annual pay of $30,890
- 2.4% projected employment growth for child care worker roles from 2023 to 2033
- In 2023, preschool teachers (except special education) had median annual pay of $38,500
- 1.7 million fewer children would have been served due to the COVID-19 disruption in 2020 without additional support (estimate from Head Start and child care capacity analyses)
- In 2023, 26 states used market-rate reimbursement policies to determine CCDF child care subsidy rates (state policy reporting)
- 41% of child care workers said they were at least somewhat likely to leave their job within 1 year (2023 survey-based measure).
- In 2022, 19% of households with children under age 6 reported that child care costs were unaffordable (spending at least 10% of income on child care and experiencing difficulty meeting those costs)
- In 2023, 20% of parents reported using informal care arrangements (relative, friend, or neighbor) as the primary arrangement at least sometimes (survey-based).
- In 2022, 24% of states reported operating a waitlist for CCDF subsidies or prioritizing specific groups during processing delays (state policy survey).
Nearly 12.1 million young children rely on U.S. child care, but affordability and staffing instability remain major challenges.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size7 stats
01
1.1 million licensed child care providers in the U.S. (excluding school-age care) in 2022
02
12.1 million children under age 5 received child care arrangements in the U.S. in 2019
03
In 2022, 3,010,000 children were enrolled in CCDF-funded care arrangements (unduplicated count)
04
$3.7 billion in federal CCDF funds awarded to states in FY 2023 (total CCDF administrative and direct services allocations)
05
In FY 2023, CCDF provided child care assistance to 2.4 million children nationwide
06
22% of children under age 5 experienced at least one episode of non-parental child care disruption in the 12 months prior to the survey (2019–2021 pooled estimates), highlighting instability in arrangements.
07
1.3 million children were enrolled in Head Start and Early Head Start nationally in 2022 (Early Head Start + Head Start total enrollment).
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
The U.S. daycare market is large but highly dynamic, with 12.1 million children under age 5 in care arrangements in 2019 and 2.4 million children served by CCDF in FY 2023, yet 22% experienced a disruption in non-parental care in the prior 12 months.
02 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
In 2022, 12,000+ Head Start classrooms met required health/safety standards for child well-being (program-wide PIR indicators)
02
A 2019 peer-reviewed study linked early education quality to improved long-run outcomes, including educational attainment
03
In 2023, 78% of Head Start agencies reported meeting or exceeding recruitment and enrollment goals (program-level performance reporting)
04
In 2023, 86% of Head Start programs met or exceeded at least one recruitment/enrollment performance indicator at the program level (program-level performance reporting; subset of agencies).
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show strong execution in Head Start with 78% of agencies meeting or exceeding recruitment and enrollment goals in 2023 and 86% of programs meeting at least one such indicator, alongside program-wide health and safety compliance reaching 12,000 plus classrooms in 2022.
03 · Category
Workforce & Wages6 stats
01
In 2023, child care workers had a median annual pay of $30,890
02
2.4% projected employment growth for child care worker roles from 2023 to 2033
03
In 2023, preschool teachers (except special education) had median annual pay of $38,500
04
In 2023, preschool and child care center directors had a median annual pay of $56,230
05
In 2021, 30% of child care staff reported that wages were not sufficient to meet living expenses (survey-based measure)
06
In 2023, 3.8 million people were employed in child care worker and related preschool/child care roles in the U.S. (BLS occupational employment)
Interpretation
Workforce & Wages Interpretation
For the workforce and wages picture in daycare, median pay remains modest with $30,890 for child care workers and $38,500 for preschool teachers, while only 2.4% employment growth is projected for 2023 to 2033 and 30% of child care staff in 2021 said their wages were not sufficient to cover living expenses.
More related reading
04 · Category
Industry Trends3 stats
01
1.7 million fewer children would have been served due to the COVID-19 disruption in 2020 without additional support (estimate from Head Start and child care capacity analyses)
02
In 2023, 26 states used market-rate reimbursement policies to determine CCDF child care subsidy rates (state policy reporting)
03
41% of child care workers said they were at least somewhat likely to leave their job within 1 year (2023 survey-based measure).
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry trends show a system under strain as COVID-19 disruption in 2020 could have left 1.7 million fewer children served without added support, 41% of child care workers in 2023 were at least somewhat likely to leave within a year, and even in 2023, 26 states relied on market-rate reimbursement to set CCDF subsidy rates.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis1 stats
01
In 2022, 19% of households with children under age 6 reported that child care costs were unaffordable (spending at least 10% of income on child care and experiencing difficulty meeting those costs)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
In 2022, 19% of households with children under age 6 reported that child care costs were unaffordable, showing that affordability remains a significant cost barrier in the Cost Analysis category.
06 · Category
User Adoption2 stats
01
In 2023, 20% of parents reported using informal care arrangements (relative, friend, or neighbor) as the primary arrangement at least sometimes (survey-based).
02
In 2022, 24% of states reported operating a waitlist for CCDF subsidies or prioritizing specific groups during processing delays (state policy survey).
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
In 2023, 20% of parents said they rely at least sometimes on informal care as their primary arrangement, while in 2022 24% of states reported waitlists or prioritization for CCDF subsidies, showing that user adoption is split between informal solutions and formal programs with access constraints.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Priyanka Sharma. (2026, February 13). Daycare Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/daycare-statistics
MLA
Priyanka Sharma. "Daycare Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/daycare-statistics.
Chicago
Priyanka Sharma. 2026. "Daycare Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/daycare-statistics.
Sources & references
23 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+13 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)