The childcare desert map
nobody was showing you.
Daycare Density by County
Licensed facilities per 1,000 children under 5
Travis
TX
Cook
IL
King
WA
Maricopa
AZ
Polk
IA
Weld
CO
Fresno
CA
Miami-Dade
FL
Hennepin
MN
Bexar
TX
Jefferson
KY
Shelby
TN
Average Waitlist Time by City
Weeks from application to confirmed placement, 2025 data
Sprout's live vacancy feed bypasses the waitlist entirely — showing only facilities with confirmed open spots today.
Sprout Insight
67% of parents find their daycare
within 2.1 miles of their home.
2.1mi
Median distance
67%
Within 3 miles
3mi
Sprout search radius
What "licensed" actually means —
state by state.
The 4 Pillars of Licensing
What every licensed daycare must prove — and what Sprout verifies
Staff-to-Child Ratios
State-mandated minimums vary: 1:3 for infants (CA) to 1:6 (TX). Sprout flags every ratio.
Fire & Safety Inspections
Annual fire marshal sign-offs, emergency exit compliance, and hazard-free environment checks.
Background Check Compliance
All staff fingerprinted and cleared through state criminal databases. Updated every 2 years.
Director Qualifications
Minimum ECE credits, years of experience, and continuing education requirements by state.
State Data Coverage
98.4%
Inspection Records
Across all 50 states + D.C.
State-by-State Inspection Coverage
How often each state inspects — and how complete our data is
California
Texas
New York
Florida
Illinois
Washington
Colorado
Georgia
Every statistic above —
now fits in your pocket.
Sprout
Bright Futures CDC
2 openLittle Sprouts Academy
1 openSunshine Learning Ctr
4 openLive Vacancy Feed
Real-time open spots — not "call for availability"
Verified Parent Ratings
2.3M reviews from families who actually enrolled
Inspection Scores
State scores displayed on every listing — no hiding violations
One-Tap Tour Booking
Book a tour directly in the app — average response: 22 minutes
The waitlist nightmare ends today.
Free to download. No subscription. No email required.
The exhale when the confirmation
email hits your inbox.
"We moved to Austin in February with a 14-month-old and no daycare lined up. I typed our ZIP code at 11pm, had a tour booked for the next morning, and she started the following Monday. I cried when the confirmation came through."
Megan Kowalski
First-time parent, relocated from Chicago
Austin, TX — 78704
"I'm an HR benefits coordinator for a 600-person company. I used Sprout to build our entire childcare resource guide — sorted by neighborhood, with inspection scores visible. My team saved about 40 hours of manual research."
David Thornton
HR Benefits Manager, Cascade Tech
Seattle, WA — 98101
"Three months on every Facebook group waitlist. One afternoon on Sprout. The inspection scores were what sold me — I could actually see our center had passed every annual check for 6 years straight."
Priya Nair
Software engineer, expecting second child
San Jose, CA — 95110
4.9
App Store Rating
18,400+ reviews
340K+
Tours Booked
In 2025 alone
93%
Found placement
Within first 3 results