Open Data
ZIP-Level Daycare Quality Dataset
Free, downloadable aggregate statistics on US daycare quality and supply, computed at the ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) level. 22 columns covering ratings, accreditations, inspection findings, and capacity-to-children ratios. Released under CC-BY 4.0.
Download
Last updated: 2026-06-14 · 20,433 ZCTAs
The download links always point to the latest version. Versioned filenames (zip-aggregates-2026-06-14.csv) are also accessible directly for reproducible citation.
What's in the dataset
One row per ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) in the United States. Columns describe the daycare landscape inside that ZCTA — how many providers operate there, the share offering infant care or weekend hours, the mean Childery quality rating, the accreditation mix, and the inspection-findings rate where state data is available.
The dataset deliberately does not include per-facility data. Aggregation protects individual operator identity. For per-facility quality data, browse the daycare directory directly.
Suppression rule (k = 5)
ZCTAs with fewer than 5 licensed providers are included as rows but with every metric column set to null, and the suppressed column flagged true. This is the Census Bureau's standard small-area suppression threshold, applied here to prevent single-facility re-identification — in a ZCTA with one daycare, a published mean is that daycare's value.
About half of ZCTAs in the dataset are suppressed, almost entirely rural and exurban areas. The remaining ZCTAs hold the overwhelming majority of children and providers.
Column reference
Geographic identity
zcta- 5-digit ZIP Code Tabulation Area
- Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 vintage
state- 2-letter USPS state code
- Source: Derived from dominant county FIPS
county_fips- 5-digit county FIPS code (state + county)
- Source: Census ZCTA-county relationship file
county_name- County name
- Source: Census ZCTA-county relationship file · Dominant county chosen by largest land-area overlap
urbanicity- 'urban' if density > 386/sq km (~1,000/sq mi), else 'rural'. 'unknown' for ZCTAs with no ACS population.
- Source: Computed from ZCTA land area + ACS 5-year 2019-2023 population
Coverage & capacity
providers_total- Count of active licensed daycares in the ZCTA
- Source: Childery directory
licensed_capacity_sum- Sum of licensed-capacity across providers that report it
- Source: State licensing portals
slots_per_1000_children_under_5- Licensed slots per 1,000 children under 5
- Source: Capacity sum ÷ ACS under-5 population × 1,000
Quality ratings
mean_overall_stars- Mean of Childery's 1-5 Overall rating across providers with a rating
- Source: Childery composite (QRIS + accreditation + structural)
mean_process_stars- Mean of Process subscore (QRIS + NAEYC + CLASS)
- Source: Same; null where no provider has a Process signal
mean_structural_stars- Mean of Structural subscore (state regulatory baseline)
- Source: Same
pct_at_4_or_5_stars- Share of providers (with a rating) at Overall ≥ 4
- Source: Same
State quality systems
pct_with_qris_rating- Share participating in the state's QRIS where one exists
- Source: State QRIS rosters
pct_naeyc_accredited- Share NAEYC-accredited
- Source: NAEYC accreditation roster
pct_head_start_partnership- Share operating as / partnered with Head Start
- Source: Head Start program data
Safety & inspections
pct_with_inspection_history- Share with structured inspection history available
- Source: State licensing inspection portals · A coverage signal: ~20 states fully parsed as of latest update
mean_findings_per_provider_36mo- Mean total findings per provider in the past 36 months, among providers with inspection data
- Source: Childery inspection-history corpus
pct_with_zero_findings_36mo- Share with zero findings in the past 36 months, among providers with inspection data
- Source: Same
pct_with_substantiated_complaints_36mo- Share with at least one substantiated complaint in the past 36 months
- Source: State complaint records
Access & schedules
pct_offers_infant_care- Share licensed to serve infants
- Source: State licensing data
pct_offers_weekend_hours- Share offering Saturday or Sunday hours, among providers with parseable hours
- Source: Childery hours parser
pct_offers_extended_hours- Share opening before 7am OR closing after 6pm, among providers with parseable hours
- Source: Childery hours parser
Metadata
suppressed- True if providers_total < 5 — all metric columns are null on suppressed rows
- Source: Childery, Census standard small-area suppression
suppression_reason- Plain-English reason, or null when not suppressed
- Source: Childery
data_as_of- YYYY-MM-DD this snapshot was generated
- Source: Childery
License & citation
Released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) license. You may use, redistribute, and adapt the data — including commercially — provided you credit Childery as the source.
Suggested citation:
Childery (2026-06-14). ZIP-Level Daycare Quality Dataset. Retrieved from https://childery.com/data