Data sources
Every listing is sourced directly from an official state licensing or regulatory body. We do not accept pay-to-list submissions and we do not aggregate from commercial directories. When a state's child-care licensing agency publishes a public-record dataset, we mirror only the fields that fall under public-record law (legal name, license number, address, contact info, license status, capacity, last inspection date, and applicable program types).
Examples of agencies we use:
- California: CDSS Community Care Licensing
- Texas: HHS Child Care Regulation
- New York: NY OCFS Child Care Services
- Florida: FL DCF Provider Search
- Pennsylvania: PA Find Child Care
Each state's state page links directly to the agency search tool so you can independently verify any listing.
Refresh cadence
- License status & contact info: reviewed quarterly against the state source-of-truth, refreshed when discrepancies are found.
- Cost averages: updated annually from ChildCare Aware of America's annual cost report and state-level surveys.
- Subsidy phone lines: verified annually each January against the state's CCDF caseworker directory.
- Staff-to-child ratios: reflect each state's minimum legal requirement, not voluntary NAEYC accreditation. Updated whenever a state amends its child-care regulations.
What we don't do
- No fake reviews. Aggregate ratings on this site come from official inspection records, not crowd-sourced opinions.
- No paid placement. Center ordering on listing pages is alphabetical or recency-based — never sponsored.
- No referral kickbacks. Tap-to-call uses the center's published phone number; we don't run intercepting trackers between you and the provider.
- No medical or legal advice. We aggregate public licensing data; for personalized guidance contact the state agency or a licensed child-care consultant.
Editorial guidelines
All explainer content (program comparisons, subsidy guides, blog articles) is written by the DaycareHub editorial team. We reference primary sources — NAEYC publications, HHS Office of Child Care, state licensing regulations, and peer-reviewed early-childhood research. When facts cannot be sourced to a primary record, we omit them rather than guess.
Comparisons (e.g., daycare vs preschool) reflect typical US practice and may not capture every state's variations. Always check the specific center's policy.
Found a problem?
If you spot an out-of-date listing, an inaccurate cost or ratio, or a broken link to a state agency:
- Email [email protected] with the URL and a one-line description.
- Or use the contact form (topic: "Report a Listing Issue").
- For urgent safety concerns about a center, report directly to the state agency listed on its state page; that's the only body with regulatory authority.
Privacy
We log anonymized page-view counts via our self-hosted analytics (no third-party trackers, no ad networks). We do not collect search queries or personal info beyond what you voluntarily submit through the contact form. See the privacy policy for full detail.
Last reviewed: May 2026 · Maintained by the DaycareHub editorial team. Independent, ad-free, and free for families.