DaycareIndex
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Daycare and child care in Texas

Every licensed daycare center, preschool and home daycare in Texas, by city and ZIP code. Compare ages, hours, meals and childcare assistance, then open any provider to look up its state licence and inspection record.

Open weekends: cities in Texas

Cities with providers matching Open weekends. Show all cities.

Find care that fits your family

Start from what you need, then open the matching providers.

How childcare licensing works in Texas

Texas Health and Human Services licenses and inspects childcare in four permit types, in descending order of oversight: licensed centers, licensed child-care homes, registered child-care homes, and listed family homes. Each provider page shows which permit a provider holds, its capacity and the ages it covers.

Inspectors visit most operations about once a year and check against the state’s minimum standards. Where a standard is not met on the day, it is recorded, along with the state’s risk level for that standard and whether it was corrected. That history is on every provider page under Inspection history. How to read a Texas inspection record.

Research: what Texas inspectors cite most

Across 122,180 cited standards statewide. Risk levels are the state’s. 11% were corrected at the inspection itself.

  1. 746.1205(a)(4)Supervision ensures each child’s safety, well-being, including physical proximity and auditory or visual awareness of each child’s on going activity
    2888
  2. 745.641AP Background check results - Must receive notification prior to allowing subject to be present at your operation
    2610
  3. 746.5101(a)Annual Fire Inspection - Before Initial Permit Issued and Every 12 Months
    2096
  4. 746.1201(1)Responsibilities of Employees and Caregivers -Demonstrate Competency, Good Judgment, Self-control
    1841
  5. 746.3407Maintenance of Building, Grounds and Equipment
    1806

Calculated from Texas HHSC records, last updated 2026-08-16. Methodology.

What an inspection record looks like

A real entry from a provider page. Chosen by rule: the most recent citation that was corrected at the inspection and is not High risk.

Childrens Lighthouse Learning Center At Stone OakLicensed center · San Antonio, TX
Aug 14, 2026Inspection1 standard cited
746.4503(b)Texas HHSC risk level: Medium

Cots, Beds, Mats Labeled With Child's Name

In the preschool classrooms, the children were not sleeping on their assigned cots. *Corrected during the inspection when the nap map was updated with the correct name and number for each child.

Corrected Aug 14, 2026 · Technical assistance given

Texas daycare search: look up a licence and inspection record

Search a provider by name to see the permit it holds, its licensed capacity, ages and hours, and its inspection history as Texas HHSC publishes it. As of Aug 16, 2026, Texas listed 9,615 licensed centers, 1,580 licensed child care homes, 1,771 registered child care homes and 1,363 listed family homes.

Childcare in Texas: common questions

How do I look up a daycare's licence in Texas?
Search the provider's name on this site, or open it from its city page. Every provider page shows the permit type (licensed center, licensed child care home, registered child care home or listed family home), the licensed capacity, ages served, hours, and the inspection history and cited standards as Texas HHSC publishes them, with dates and the source named. How to read a Texas inspection record.
How many licensed daycares are there in Texas?
As of Aug 16, 2026, 14,333 childcare operations held a Texas permit across 822 cities: 9,615 licensed centers and 4,714 home-based providers (1,580 licensed homes, 1,771 registered homes and 1,363 listed family homes), with 1,179,837 licensed spots in total. See every city.
What is the difference between a licensed center, a licensed home, a registered home and a listed family home?
They are the four permit types Texas HHSC issues, in descending order of oversight. A licensed center operates in a commercial setting with age-grouped classrooms and regular inspections. A licensed child care home cares for up to 12 children in the provider's home and is inspected. A registered child care home cares for up to 6 children (plus school-age children after school) and is inspected less often. A listed family home cares for 1 to 3 unrelated children and is not routinely inspected. Each provider page names its permit type; use the Daycare centers and Home daycare tiles above to browse by setting.
How do I get help paying for daycare in Texas?
Texas child care assistance (Child Care Services, run by the local Workforce Solutions boards with Texas Workforce Commission funding) pays part of the cost for eligible working or studying families, at providers that accept it. 6,001 Texas providers report accepting child care assistance: use the Childcare assistance accepted tile to find them by city. How Texas child care assistance works.
What are the best daycares in Texas?
The best daycare is the one that fits your child and your family, and Daycare Index is built to help you find yours. It brings together every licensed provider across 822 Texas cities with the facts that decide it: ages served, hours, meals, whether they accept child care assistance, centre or home, and each provider's licence and inspection record from Texas HHSC. Start from your city, narrow to what you need, shortlist a few, and visit. How to choose the best daycare for your child.
How much does daycare cost in Texas?
Texas does not publish tuition, so a price appears on a provider page only when the provider has supplied one. Prices depend mostly on the child's age (infant care costs the most), the hours you need, and whether it is a center or a home. What shapes daycare prices in Texas, and how to compare them.

Texas guides