Lancaster, PA
114 certified daycares, licensed for 5,520 children
Data: PA DHS, Office of Child Development and Early Learning, “Child Care Providers including Early Learning Programs Listing” (data.pa.gov, dataset ajn5-kaxt), as of September 25, 2026. Counts cover certified child care centers, group homes and family homes where the facility city is “Lancaster.” Other early learning programs (Pre-K Counts, Head Start) are excluded. Capacity is the state-certified maximum, not the number of open spots. School-age-only providers have no numeric capacity in the data, so their capacity is not included in the totals.
Lancaster at a glance
There are 114 certified child care providers in Lancaster, certified for a combined 5,520 children.[1]
| Provider type | Providers | Certified capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Child Care Center | 75 | 5,228 |
| Group Child Care Home | 12 | 130 |
| Family Child Care Home | 27 | 162 |
| Total | 114 | 5,520 |
- 108 of these providers (about 95%) have a child care subsidy (Child Care Works) agreement.[1]
- 1 are flagged with a negative sanction.[1]
- Most are in Lancaster County.[1]
Keystone STARS ratings
Keystone STARS is Pennsylvania’s quality rating program for early learning. Levels run from STAR 1 to STAR 4, the highest. “ACC” marks providers with an accepted national accreditation. A rating describes program quality standards, not whether a provider has openings.
| STAR level | Providers |
|---|---|
| STAR 4 | 25 |
| STAR 4 – ACC | 9 |
| STAR 3 | 2 |
| STAR 3 – ACC | 1 |
| STAR 2 | 12 |
| STAR 1 | 55 |
| No STAR Level | 10 |
ZIP codes with the most providers
| ZIP | Providers | Certified capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 17603 | 55 | 2,718 |
| 17602 | 35 | 1,287 |
| 17601 | 24 | 1,515 |
Source for this table: the same dataset.[1]
Provider types explained
- Child Care Center: a facility outside a home that cares for 7 or more children at one time.
- Group Child Care Home: a home or facility that cares for 7 to 15 children of various ages, or 7 to 12 children of the same age range.
- Family Child Care Home: a provider’s home that cares for 4 to 6 unrelated children at one time.
Definitions follow Pennsylvania’s child care certification rules (55 Pa. Code Chapters 3270, 3280 and 3290).
How to check a provider’s certification and inspections
- Go to Pennsylvania’s official provider search on COMPASS at compass.dhs.pa.gov/home/providersearch. (The older address, findchildcare.pa.gov, is the one the dataset itself points to.)
- Search by provider name, city, county or ZIP code.
- Open the provider’s record. It shows the certificate type, capacity, Keystone STARS level and inspection results.
- The open dataset also flags whether a provider has a negative sanction (field “Negative Sanctions”).[1]
Sources
- Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL). “Child Care Providers including Early Learning Programs Listing Current Monthly Facility County Human Services,” data.pa.gov, dataset ajn5-kaxt, rows updated 2026-09-25. https://data.pa.gov/d/ajn5-kaxt
DaycareVacancy is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (PA DHS) or OCDEL. Capacity is the state-certified maximum, not the number of open spots, and no listing here means a provider has openings. All Pennsylvania cities.
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