Childcare access in Kentucky
Per Center for American Progress methodology · ACS 2019–2023 · Find a daycare in Kentucky
Statewide
266,747 children under 5, 1,398 licensed providers across 118 counties
530 of 1,301 census tracts in Kentucky have zero licensed providers — these are absolute deserts by CAP's definition. The slot-ratio desert classification can't be computed for the remaining tracts because capacity data isn't published by the state.
Data limitation: capacity not published in Kentucky
Kentucky's licensing agency publishes the list of licensed providers but not per-provider capacity. CAP's childcare-desert definition compares children to slots, so we suspend the “% in a desert tract” classification for Kentuckycounties. We still surface absolute deserts (tracts with zero licensed providers in populated areas) and the children-per-provider ratio in the per-county pages.
The numbers behind the classification
- Children under 5
- 266,747
- In a desert tract
- —
- Counties
- 118
- Desert tracts
- 530 / 1,301
- Licensed providers
- 1,398
- Licensed slots
- 0
- Statewide ratio
- —
- National baseline (CAP 2018)
- 51.0%
Access by county
Counties sorted by share of children under 5 in a desert tract, worst first. Counties highlighted with a link have a dedicated access page; the rest are listed for context until they're promoted to full pages.
| County | % in desert | Under 5 | Licensed slots | Kids per slot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adair County | — | 894 | 0 | — |
| Allen County | — | 1,231 | 0 | — |
| Anderson County | — | 1,407 | 0 | — |
| Ballard County | — | 334 | 0 | — |
| Barren County | — | 2,652 | 0 | — |
| Bath County | — | 861 | 0 | — |
| Bell County | — | 1,432 | 0 | — |
| Boone County | — | 8,811 | 0 | — |
| Bourbon County | — | 1,254 | 0 | — |
| Boyd County | — | 2,531 | 0 | — |
| Boyle County | — | 1,555 | 0 | — |
| Bracken County | — | 492 | 0 | — |
| Breathitt County | — | 770 | 0 | — |
| Breckinridge County | — | 1,201 | 0 | — |
| Bullitt County | — | 4,277 | 0 | — |
| Butler County | — | 744 | 0 | — |
| Caldwell County | — | 715 | 0 | — |
| Calloway County | — | 1,660 | 0 | — |
| Campbell County | — | 5,194 | 0 | — |
| Carlisle County | — | 284 | 0 | — |
| Carroll County | — | 697 | 0 | — |
| Carter County | — | 1,542 | 0 | — |
| Casey County | — | 1,049 | 0 | — |
| Christian County | — | 6,876 | 0 | — |
| Clark County | — | 2,045 | 0 | — |
| Clay County | — | 1,141 | 0 | — |
| Clinton County | — | 524 | 0 | — |
| Crittenden County | — | 466 | 0 | — |
| Cumberland County | — | 369 | 0 | — |
| Daviess County | — | 6,630 | 0 | — |
| Edmonson County | — | 526 | 0 | — |
| Elliott County | — | 278 | 0 | — |
| Estill County | — | 702 | 0 | — |
| Fayette County | — | 18,457 | 0 | — |
| Fleming County | — | 1,040 | 0 | — |
| Floyd County | — | 2,006 | 0 | — |
| Franklin County | — | 2,818 | 0 | — |
| Fulton County | — | 310 | 0 | — |
| Gallatin County | — | 485 | 0 | — |
| Garrard County | — | 928 | 0 | — |
| Grant County | — | 1,738 | 0 | — |
| Graves County | — | 2,426 | 0 | — |
| Grayson County | — | 1,710 | 0 | — |
| Green County | — | 610 | 0 | — |
| Greenup County | — | 1,732 | 0 | — |
| Hancock County | — | 524 | 0 | — |
| Hardin County | — | 7,135 | 0 | — |
| Harlan County | — | 1,569 | 0 | — |
| Harrison County | — | 1,270 | 0 | — |
| Hart County | — | 1,275 | 0 | — |
| Henderson County | — | 2,489 | 0 | — |
| Henry County | — | 894 | 0 | — |
| Hickman County | — | 186 | 0 | — |
| Hopkins County | — | 2,666 | 0 | — |
| Jackson County | — | 785 | 0 | — |
| Jefferson County | — | 47,554 | 0 | — |
| Jessamine County | — | 3,287 | 0 | — |
| Johnson County | — | 1,191 | 0 | — |
| Kenton County | — | 10,805 | 0 | — |
| Knott County | — | 667 | 0 | — |
| Knox County | — | 1,854 | 0 | — |
| Larue County | — | 801 | 0 | — |
| Laurel County | — | 3,701 | 0 | — |
| Lawrence County | — | 1,014 | 0 | — |
| Lee County | — | 363 | 0 | — |
| Leslie County | — | 520 | 0 | — |
| Letcher County | — | 1,092 | 0 | — |
| Lewis County | — | 772 | 0 | — |
| Lincoln County | — | 1,573 | 0 | — |
| Livingston County | — | 466 | 0 | — |
| Logan County | — | 1,801 | 0 | — |
| Lyon County | — | 286 | 0 | — |
| Madison County | — | 5,273 | 0 | — |
| Magoffin County | — | 696 | 0 | — |
| Marion County | — | 1,244 | 0 | — |
| Marshall County | — | 1,556 | 0 | — |
| Mason County | — | 994 | 0 | — |
| McCracken County | — | 3,893 | 0 | — |
| McCreary County | — | 940 | 0 | — |
| McLean County | — | 489 | 0 | — |
| Meade County | — | 1,543 | 0 | — |
| Menifee County | — | 368 | 0 | — |
| Mercer County | — | 1,420 | 0 | — |
| Metcalfe County | — | 593 | 0 | — |
| Monroe County | — | 675 | 0 | — |
| Montgomery County | — | 1,536 | 0 | — |
| Morgan County | — | 800 | 0 | — |
| Muhlenberg County | — | 1,712 | 0 | — |
| Nelson County | — | 2,819 | 0 | — |
| Nicholas County | — | 438 | 0 | — |
| Ohio County | — | 1,343 | 0 | — |
| Oldham County | — | 3,399 | 0 | — |
| Owen County | — | 600 | 0 | — |
| Owsley County | — | 294 | 0 | — |
| Pendleton County | — | 841 | 0 | — |
| Perry County | — | 1,665 | 0 | — |
| Pike County | — | 2,950 | 0 | — |
| Powell County | — | 791 | 0 | — |
| Pulaski County | — | 3,701 | 0 | — |
| Rockcastle County | — | 866 | 0 | — |
| Rowan County | — | 1,320 | 0 | — |
| Russell County | — | 1,031 | 0 | — |
| Scott County | — | 3,617 | 0 | — |
| Shelby County | — | 2,840 | 0 | — |
| Simpson County | — | 1,141 | 0 | — |
| Spencer County | — | 1,050 | 0 | — |
| Taylor County | — | 1,551 | 0 | — |
| Todd County | — | 887 | 0 | — |
| Trigg County | — | 802 | 0 | — |
| Trimble County | — | 436 | 0 | — |
| Union County | — | 721 | 0 | — |
| Warren County | — | 8,875 | 0 | — |
| Washington County | — | 721 | 0 | — |
| Wayne County | — | 1,090 | 0 | — |
| Webster County | — | 797 | 0 | — |
| Whitley County | — | 2,581 | 0 | — |
| Wolfe County | — | 397 | 0 | — |
| Woodford County | — | 1,507 | 0 | — |
Looking for a daycare in Kentucky?
This page measures access at the state and county level. To search licensed daycares with quality ratings, ZIP search, and direct contact information, jump to Childery's Kentucky directory.