Every state licenses child care differently, but the steps to choose a daycare are the same. This guide uses the official licensing data of ten states: Texas, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts.
1. Confirm the license
Look the program up on the state's official search. The license check guide lists each state's tool.
2. Pick a setting
Centers, school-age programs and family child care homes each work differently. See types of child care.
3. Match ages, capacity and hours
State records list the ages and the number of children a program may care for. Texas also publishes operating hours, which we use for the "open now" filter on Texas pages.
4. Read inspection history where it is public
Texas publishes deficiencies by risk level and California publishes visit and citation counts; both appear on our program pages. Other states show reports on their own search tools.
5. Budget and assistance
Read what daycare costs and child care assistance by state.
6. Visit
Bring our tour questions. Cities with full program pages: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, San Diego, Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, Tampa, Arlington, Bakersfield, Boston, Fresno, Sacramento, Orlando, Riverside, Corpus Christi, Jersey City, Lubbock, Laredo, McKinney, Tallahassee, Amarillo.
We are an independent guide, not a government website. Verify licensing with the state before you enroll: each state page links to the official search.