Houston, TX
1,464 licensed daycares, licensed for 121,692 children
Data: Texas HHSC Child Care Licensing, “HHSC CCL Daycare and Residential Operations Data” (data.texas.gov, dataset bc5r-88dy), updated October 23, 2026. Counts cover active operations (OPERATION_STATUS = Y) where the listed city is “Houston.” Residential operations and child-placing agencies are excluded. Capacity is the state-licensed maximum, not the number of open spots.
Houston at a glance
There are 1,464 active day care operations in Houston, licensed for a combined 121,692 children.[1]
| Provider type | Operations | Licensed capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed Center | 921 | 116,129 |
| Registered Child-Care Home | 354 | 4,094 |
| Licensed Child-Care Home | 102 | 1,208 |
| Listed Family Home | 87 | 261 |
| Total | 1,464 | 121,692 |
- 567 of these operations (about 39%) say they accept child care subsidies.[1]
- Most are in Harris County. A few Houston-addressed operations are in Fort Bend County.[1]
ZIP codes with the most providers
| ZIP | Operations | Licensed capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 77083 | 91 | 3,012 |
| 77084 | 79 | 4,570 |
| 77072 | 51 | 1,758 |
| 77089 | 44 | 1,915 |
| 77095 | 35 | 3,685 |
| 77082 | 35 | 2,292 |
| 77099 | 33 | 1,449 |
| 77077 | 31 | 3,538 |
Source for this table: the same dataset.[1]
Provider types explained
- Licensed Center: a non-residential facility that cares for 7 or more children.
- Licensed Child-Care Home: a provider’s home that cares for 7 to 12 children.
- Registered Child-Care Home: a provider’s home that cares for up to 6 children, plus a limited number of school-age children.
- Listed Family Home: a home that regularly cares for 1 to 3 unrelated children. These homes are listed with the state but not inspected routinely.
How to check a provider’s license and inspections
- Go to the Texas HHSC child care search at childcare.hhs.texas.gov/Public/ChildCareSearch.
- Search by the operation’s name, its operation number, or a ZIP code.
- Open the provider’s page. It shows the permit type, licensed capacity, the ages it serves, inspection history, and any deficiencies found, by risk level.
- You can also see deficiency counts and inspection totals for every provider in the open dataset (fields DEFICIENCY_HIGH through DEFICIENCY_LOW, and TOTAL_INSPECTIONS).[1] Non-compliance details are in a separate dataset, tqgd-mf4x.
Cost
[TBD: Houston child care cost data, pending a citable source]
Sources
- Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Child Care Licensing. “HHSC CCL Daycare and Residential Operations Data,” data.texas.gov, dataset bc5r-88dy, rows updated 2026-10-23. https://data.texas.gov/d/bc5r-88dy
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