Skip to content

Data · checked November 12, 2026

Licensed child care seats by county in California

For each California county: the licensed capacity of child care centers and school-age programs, compared with the number of children ages 0 to 13. Statewide there are 12.2 seats for every 100 children. Among the 42 counties with at least 10,000 children, Lake County has the fewest (5.7) and San Mateo County the most (25.2).

12.2

licensed seats per 100 children ages 0 to 13 in California (centers and school-age programs)

5.7

in Lake County, the fewest among 42 counties with 10,000+ children

754,779

licensed seats in 13,288 centers and school-age programs

15.4

seats per 100 children when family child care homes are added

Findings

What the data shows

  1. From 2022 through 2025, 4,072 licensed child care centers closed and 2,557 opened, a net loss of 1,515 centers and 56,082 licensed seats. Closings outnumbered openings in every one of those years. In 2026, through November 5, 980 closed and 592 opened, a net loss of 14,573 seats. The data can't say why centers closed; the period overlaps the state's rollout of transitional kindergarten for 4-year-olds.
  2. Lake (5.7) and Kings (5.9) counties have the fewest center seats per 100 children. Tulare, Kern, Madera and Stanislaus, the four largest counties near the bottom, have 6.1 to 6.5, about half the statewide 12.2 and a quarter of San Mateo County's 25.2. They stay below 10.5 when family child care homes are added.
  3. Fresno and Kern counties pair low supply with the highest prices relative to income: a year of infant care in a center cost 28.4% and 25.8% of the county's median family income in 2022, the two highest shares in California.

Compare

Fewest and most seats per child, counties with 10,000+ children

Fewest seats per 100 children
  • Lake5.7
  • Kings5.9
  • Tulare6.1
  • Kern6.5
  • Madera6.5
  • Stanislaus6.5
  • San Benito6.6
  • Yuba6.9
  • Tehama7.0
  • San Bernardino7.1

Seats per 100 children ages 0 to 13. The thin line marks the statewide figure (12.2).

Most seats per 100 children
  • San Mateo25.2
  • San Francisco24.7
  • Marin22.6
  • Placer18.2
  • Santa Clara18.0
  • Alameda17.5
  • Contra Costa17.4
  • Santa Cruz15.9
  • Orange15.4
  • Yolo14.7

Seats per 100 children ages 0 to 13. The thin line marks the statewide figure (12.2).

Openings and closings

Licensed child care centers opened and closed, by year

California child care centers opened and closed per year
YearOpenedClosedSeats openedSeats closedNet seats
202272089429,90538,771-8,866
202366189630,81239,992-9,180
20245241,07131,90452,086-20,182
20256521,21147,49265,346-17,854

All the numbers

Every California county

Licensed child care seats per 100 children by county in California
CountyChildren 0 to 13Centers and school-age programsCenter and school-age seatsPer 100 childrenPer 100, with family homesInfant center care, 2022 (week / share of income)Net seats, 2022 to 2025
Alameda County237,65868641,60817.521.5$516 / 17.9%-4,816
Alpine County10725046.746.7$356 / 16.1%-15
Amador County5,040133506.910.0$235 / 12.7%54
Butte County32,041893,51211.013.0$354 / 21.4%-678
Calaveras County6,280205238.311.0$291 / 17.0%63
Colusa County4,2061546411.020.3$265 / 17.1%25
Contra Costa County184,22550632,01617.420.7$482 / 18.0%-1,286
Del Norte County4,02792766.911.0$224 / 15.7%-74
El Dorado County26,622812,92311.012.9$450 / 19.1%-528
Fresno County205,90836316,2147.99.6$416 / 28.4%-906
Glenn County5,152102444.716.4$238 / 16.4%-52
Humboldt County17,518541,86810.714.2$366 / 23.7%-282
Imperial County35,720502,7177.613.9$222 / 19.0%-373
Inyo County2,5441329611.615.5$361 / 23.3%5
Kern County189,08422212,2466.59.6$353 / 25.8%-552
Kings County29,846401,7695.911.1$261 / 18.8%-5
Lake County10,790216105.711.1$261 / 17.6%-184
Lassen County4,073113117.69.0$224 / 16.9%-30
Los Angeles County1,399,4593,150184,27413.216.3$257 / 14.3%-13,354
Madera County33,351592,1786.59.2$332 / 21.8%258
Marin County33,8851457,66022.627.1$548 / 15.3%-785
Mariposa County2,30351225.310.2$254 / 18.5%39
Mendocino County12,854391,31810.313.5$278 / 18.2%-127
Merced County60,0211084,5167.510.5$245 / 18.0%59
Modoc County1,232826221.331.5$224 / 19.1%0
Mono County1,764818610.510.5$370 / 19.3%40
Monterey County77,0181225,5077.211.3$403 / 21.6%-403
Napa County17,835532,17912.215.1$377 / 16.0%-282
Nevada County12,781431,43411.215.3$317 / 16.3%-188
Orange County461,9471,07571,22315.417.0$394 / 16.5%-3,500
Placer County70,28518512,79118.221.3$449 / 17.8%-757
Plumas County2,27592239.816.6$224 / 13.4%-57
Riverside County440,21753931,6837.29.8$405 / 22.1%-801
Sacramento County273,27161133,11412.115.5$347 / 18.4%-1,901
San Benito County12,769188436.612.1$386 / 17.8%-68
San Bernardino County404,53254128,6637.18.7$384 / 23.4%-2,063
San Diego County501,3041,08666,72713.317.1$379 / 17.6%-5,694
San Francisco County84,45740120,85024.729.3$607 / 19.7%-1,358
San Joaquin County154,26023911,5577.510.4$387 / 22.0%-1,677
San Luis Obispo County36,2211024,42612.216.8$361 / 16.5%-761
San Mateo County104,51540026,33025.229.1$555 / 16.4%-138
Santa Barbara County73,1991637,46910.216.6$453 / 22.4%-1,343
Santa Clara County271,69771348,88518.022.1$527 / 15.7%-6,791
Santa Cruz County32,5021135,16115.923.0$477 / 19.5%-360
Shasta County28,584702,6509.312.2$248 / 15.1%-210
Sierra County33827020.724.9$224 / 15.8%40
Siskiyou County5,905185188.811.6$265 / 20.3%-46
Solano County72,5361457,0539.713.5$424 / 20.0%57
Sonoma County65,7711557,63711.614.7$243 / 10.6%-817
Stanislaus County106,4191566,8796.58.9$316 / 19.6%-391
Sutter County17,992351,5798.813.4$307 / 19.0%-283
Tehama County11,622308167.011.7$236 / 16.8%-226
Trinity County1,76041408.015.1$224 / 18.9%-5
Tulare County102,5131216,2336.110.4$240 / 18.5%423
Tuolumne County6,816181,05415.518.3$269 / 15.3%-132
Ventura County127,70527116,73413.115.9$425 / 18.9%-1,952
Yolo County31,119934,58314.719.2$387 / 18.1%-806
Yuba County18,110301,2556.910.4$365 / 24.9%-88

Method

How we counted

  • Seats are licensed capacity: the most children a program may care for at once. They are not openings, and they are not enrollment.
  • The main count covers licensed child care centers and school-age programs as listed in the BackPR program finder, from the state file loaded on October 21, 2026 (openings and closings: the file downloaded November 12, 2026). Family child care homes are not in the finder; the "Per 100, with family homes" column adds their licensed capacity from CDSS family child care homes file on the California Health and Human Services open data portal, as of May 25, 2025, the latest file the state has published.
  • Children are ages 0 to 13 (Census "under 5" plus "5 to 13"), July 1, 2025. Many seats are in school-age programs, so we compare seats with all children 0 to 13.
  • Rankings use counties with at least 10,000 children, so very small counties don't swing the list. Every county is in the CSV.
  • Only state-licensed care is counted. Public school pre-K and transitional kindergarten, programs the state exempts from licensing, and care by relatives or nannies are not in these numbers.
  • Families often use care outside their home county, so a low county number doesn't mean no care is within reach.
  • Infant care prices and income shares are 2022 figures from the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices, in 2022 dollars. Income share = weekly median price × 52 / county median family income.
  • Openings and closings: centers in the state's download whose first license date falls in 2022 to 2025, and centers marked closed with a closing date in those years. The file keeps closed centers back to late 2021. A new license at the same address (a new owner, or a site switching to the state's newer single license, which can cover several age groups) counts as one closing and one opening. Licenses replaced at the same address within a year changed the total by +1,546 seats, so they don't explain the loss.
  • BackPR began tracking listings on October 20, 2026. That is too recent to measure openings and closings from our own records, so this page reports a single snapshot plus the state's own license dates.

Download: CSV, every county · free under CC BY 4.0.

Sources:

About BackPR: BackPR makes registration and payment software for youth programs, camps and child care providers, and runs a free directory of state-licensed programs. This page uses only public government data. Questions: support@backpr.com.

To cite: BackPR analysis of California child care licensing data and U.S. Census Bureau estimates, November 12, 2026. https://backpr.com/resources/child-care-seats-by-county/california

FAQ

Common questions

Which California county has the fewest child care seats per child?

Among counties with at least 10,000 children ages 0 to 13, Lake County: 610 licensed seats in centers and school-age programs for 10,790 children, or 5.7 per 100. The statewide figure is 12.2.

Are family child care homes included?

Not in the main count. A second column adds the licensed capacity of family child care homes from CDSS family child care homes file on the California Health and Human Services open data portal, dated May 25, 2025, the latest file the state has published. With homes, California has 15.4 seats per 100 children.

Can I use this data?

Yes. The CSV is free under CC BY 4.0. Please cite "BackPR analysis of California licensing data and U.S. Census Bureau estimates" and link to this page.

Keep exploring

Child care seats by county: Texas
Child care seats by county: New York
Child care capacity by state
Child care cost in California
Find licensed programs in California