# Child care capacity by state: seats per 100 children

Source: https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-capacity-by-state. Last updated: 2026-11-08.

How many licensed child care seats does each state have for its children? We added up the licensed capacity in each state's public licensing data and divided it by the number of children aged 0 to 12. Across the 14 states and DC with comparable data, there are 20.2 seats for every 100 children.

To cite this page: BackPR (2026). Licensed child care capacity by state: seats per 100 children (snapshot 2026-11-08). https://backpr.com/data/child-care-capacity-by-state.json. CC BY 4.0. Page: https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-capacity-by-state

## Key facts
- 20.2: Licensed seats per 100 children aged 0 to 12, across 14 states and DC
- 5,091,427: Licensed seats in those 14 states and DC
- 43.3: Seats per 100 children in Delaware, the most
- 12.1: Seats per 100 children in Utah, the fewest

## Seats and programs by state
| State | Seats per 100 children (0 to 12) | Licensed seats | Listings with a capacity | Programs | Children 0 to 12 | Most 4-year-olds per staff member | Most school-age children per staff member | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Delaware](https://backpr.com/find/delaware) | 43.3 | 64,970 | 100% | 628 | 149,896 | 12 | 15 | [Delaware Division of Family Services, Office of Child Care Licensing](https://data.delaware.gov/d/iuzd-3dbt) |
| [Vermont](https://backpr.com/find/vermont) | 33.7 | 26,143 | 100% | 558 | 77,523 | 10 | 13 | [Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division](https://data.vermont.gov/d/ctdw-tmfz) |
| [Nebraska](https://backpr.com/find/nebraska) | 32.5 | 110,958 | 100% | 1,128 | 341,531 | 12 | 15 | [Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=d3d3f44cb252424fb2f76e27162f534c) |
| [Colorado](https://backpr.com/find/colorado) | 29.6 | 250,410 | 100% | 3,235 | 847,103 | 12 | 15 | [Colorado Department of Early Childhood](https://data.colorado.gov/d/a9rr-k8mu) |
| [New Jersey](https://backpr.com/find/new-jersey) | 28.4 | 408,129 | 100% | 4,078 | 1,439,123 | 12 | 15 | [New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Office of Licensing (layer by NJDEP)](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=0bc9fe070d4c49e1a6555c3fdea15b8a) |
| [District of Columbia](https://backpr.com/find/district-of-columbia) | 26.3 | 25,831 | 100% | 359 | 98,362 | 10 | 15 | [DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=48009ae8fbe54157b86586d3e4f10929) |
| [Kentucky](https://backpr.com/find/kentucky) | 24.5 | 177,700 | 100% | 1,759 | 724,028 | 14 | 15 | [Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=96717ecf877b4d5bbd2e998aafe06672) |
| [New York](https://backpr.com/find/new-york) | 24.1 | 681,091 | 95.2% | 7,591 | 2,821,481 | 8 | 10 | [New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/gy3q-4tzp); [New York State Office of Children and Family Services](https://data.ny.gov/d/cb42-qumz) |
| [Florida](https://backpr.com/find/florida) | 24.0 | 759,698 | 99.9% | 6,613 | 3,163,806 | 20 | 25 | [Florida Department of Children and Families](https://www.myflfamilies.com/services/child-family/child-care/child-care-providers-and-statistics) |
| [Massachusetts](https://backpr.com/find/massachusetts) | 21.8 | 206,277 | 100% | 3,030 | 947,163 | 10 | 13 | [Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care](https://educationtocareer.data.mass.gov/d/iyks-y3g6) |
| [Texas](https://backpr.com/find/texas) | 20.9 | 1,130,582 | 100% | 9,596 | 5,403,845 | 18 | 26 | [Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Licensing](https://data.texas.gov/d/bc5r-88dy) |
| [Michigan](https://backpr.com/find/michigan) | 16.1 | 237,166 | 100% | 4,545 | 1,473,458 | 12 | 18 | [Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=a79c3b0caedf412599085941e2af91d4) |
| [Washington](https://backpr.com/find/washington) | 15.4 | 179,754 | 100% | 2,541 | 1,167,525 | 10 | 15 | [Washington Department of Children, Youth, and Families](https://data.wa.gov/d/was8-3ni8) |
| [California](https://backpr.com/find/california) | 12.9 | 754,779 | 100% | 13,288 | 5,857,741 | 12 | 14 | [California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division](https://www.ccld.dss.ca.gov/carefacilitysearch/DownloadData) |
| [Utah](https://backpr.com/find/utah) | 12.1 | 77,939 | 100% | 941 | 645,091 | 15 | 20 | [Utah Department of Health and Human Services](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=df32162f1ccf46c18ac4ad93a244fee3) |
| [Alaska](https://backpr.com/find/alaska) | Anchorage only | 7,708 | 100% | 98 | 124,794 | 10 | 18 | [Municipality of Anchorage](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=665a8b6a94704750b18788b8ab9816a9) |
| [Connecticut](https://backpr.com/find/connecticut) | no capacity data | - | - | 1,879 | 503,576 | 10 | 15 | [Connecticut Office of Early Childhood](https://data.ct.gov/d/h8mr-dn95) |
| [Maryland](https://backpr.com/find/maryland) | no capacity data | - | - | 3,114 | 963,028 | 10 | 15 | [Maryland State Department of Education, Office of Child Care](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=3d31d1b53831477ea54ff6020f64219f) |
| [Minnesota](https://backpr.com/find/minnesota) | no capacity data | - | - | 2,393 | 910,625 | 10 | 15 | [Minnesota Department of Human Services via MnGeo](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=2396668679a640788852c916fdae6045) |
| [Pennsylvania](https://backpr.com/find/pennsylvania) | too few with capacity | at least 398,258 | 84.7% | 5,002 | 1,839,503 | 10 | 12 | [Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning](https://data.pa.gov/d/ajn5-kaxt) |
| [Tennessee](https://backpr.com/find/tennessee) | no capacity data | - | - | 1,856 | 1,117,131 | 13 | 20 | [Tennessee Department of Human Services](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=bfe29552601b4d8793b1fba580c2e3fd) |
| [Virginia](https://backpr.com/find/virginia) | no capacity data | - | - | 2,659 | 1,327,313 | 10 | 18 | [Virginia Department of Education](https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=f61abbd2d13241df9ece9edbbd8c6ab9) |

## Notes
- Capacity is the most children a licensed program may care for at one time. It is not enrollment or open slots, and a seat can serve a child part-time or before and after school.
- Seats are in licensed child care centers and school-age programs. Home-based family child care isn't included, so states that rely more on family child care homes rank lower. States also license and name program types differently; check each state's source.
- Children are ages 0 to 12, from the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimates (July 1, 2024). Seats are from our finder on November 8, 2026, so the two dates differ.
- Where fewer than 95% of a state's listings publish a capacity, the seat count is a minimum, and the state is left out of the per-child figures, the totals and the charts (Pennsylvania).
- Ratios are the most children of that age one staff member may supervise in a licensed center under state rules.
- The chart scores (0 to 100) rank a state against the other states with a per-child figure. For ratios, fewer children per staff member scores higher.
- General information, not legal advice or a measure of quality.
- The web page also shows a spider chart for each state, built from these scores.
- Children: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 population estimates by age (civilian), July 1, 2024, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2024/state/asrh/sc-est2024-agesex-civ.csv
- Download: https://backpr.com/data/child-care-capacity-by-state.csv and https://backpr.com/data/child-care-capacity-by-state.json (CC BY 4.0).

## Common questions
### Which state has the most child care seats per child?
Among the 14 states and DC with comparable data, Delaware has the most: 43.3 licensed seats for every 100 children aged 0 to 12. Utah has the fewest, at 12.1.

### How many child care seats are there per child in the U.S.?
Across the 14 states and DC with comparable data, there are 20.2 licensed seats for every 100 children aged 0 to 12 (5,091,427 seats for 25,157,676 children). Not every state publishes capacity, so this isn't a national total.

### What is a child care desert?
The Center for American Progress defines a child care desert as a census tract with more than 50 children under 5 and either no licensed child care or more than three children under 5 for every licensed slot. This page measures whole states and children aged 0 to 12, so it doesn't label any state a desert.

### Why are some states missing?
We include only states whose public licensing data is in our finder. Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennessee and Virginia publish programs but not their licensed capacity, so they have no per-child figure. In Pennsylvania, too few listings publish a capacity to compare. Alaska's list covers Anchorage only, so it isn't compared either.

### Can I use this data?
Yes. The dataset is free under CC BY 4.0. Download the CSV or JSON from this page and credit BackPR with a link.