BUSINESS GUIDE
How to start a daycare in 2026
The real version, written for a home daycare: the license your state requires, the ratios that cap your income, what it costs to open, what parents pay, the federal food program most new providers miss — and how local parents find you and book a tour.
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$13,184average yearly price of child care in the US, 2025 (Child Care Aware of America)
$11,673average yearly price of infant care in a family child care home (same report, average of state averages)
46%of US children under 6 live in a child care desert (Center for American Progress, 2025)
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See it in action
See what your daycare website could look like
This is a real Zarla template for a home daycare. Describe yours — the ages you take, your hours, your openings — and you'll have a site like this, with a tour-request form and room for parent reviews, in about a minute.
- Professional design — not a generic template
- Looks great on desktop and mobile
- Content written for your industry
Build the website
Start your daycare website now
Add your town and your daycare's name to the sentence, and Zarla builds the site: the ages you take, your hours, openings, a tour-request form and room for parent reviews. Edit it in chat and publish when your license is through.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
Is a daycare business worth starting?
The demand side is not in doubt. The Center for American Progress estimates that 46% of American children under 6 lived in a licensed child care desert in 2025 — a place with too few licensed slots for the children who need them (Center for American Progress, April 2026). Parents feel it in the price: Child Care Aware of America puts the national average at $13,184 a year in 2025, up 23% since 2021, and $11,673 a year for an infant in a family child care home (Child Care Aware of America, May 2026).
The hard part is the other side of the ledger. Ratios cap how many children one adult can care for, so income has a ceiling you can calculate on day one. Costs are rising — insurance, food, utilities — and many providers say they can't pass all of it on to families who are stretched too. The number of small family child care homes run by one adult fell by half between 2005 and 2017 (Erikson Institute, citing the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance), and most of the reasons providers give for leaving are about money and hours, not children.
So it's worth starting if you want to work with young children, you can run a full, well-priced home at your licensed capacity, and you go in with the numbers — which is what the rest of this guide gives you.
How to start a home daycare, in plain English
Every US state sets minimum health and safety rules child care has to meet to operate legally, and some states call a regulated home “registered” rather than “licensed” (childcare.gov). What changes from state to state is how many children you can take at home before a license or registration kicks in, and how many you can take once you have one. Four examples:
- California: a small family daycare home cares for 8 or fewer children and a large one for 7 to 14 — counting children under 10 who live in the home (Health & Safety Code §1596.78).
- Texas: a listed family home cares for up to 3 unrelated children; a registered child-care home for up to 6, plus 6 school-age children after school, never more than 12 in all; a licensed child-care home for 7 to 12 (Texas HHS).
- Florida: a family child care home can care for, for example, up to 6 preschoolers over 12 months, or up to 10 children if no more than 5 are preschool age — household children under 13 count toward capacity (Florida Statutes §402.302).
- New York: family day care is 3 to 6 children aged six weeks to 12 years, plus 2 more school-age children, with a registration from the state Office of Children and Family Services (NYC Business).
From there the order is the same everywhere: read your state's family child care rules, check that your city, landlord or homeowners' association allows it, complete the training and background checks, prepare the space and pass the inspection, set your tuition and policies, and then fill your spots. Our free daycare business plan lays out every startup line with typical costs, and Zarla's daycare website builder is how you get found once you're licensed.
What home daycare providers actually say
None of this is our opinion about child care. It comes from providers speaking in public — to reporters and to state lawmakers. Three things come up again and again, and only one of them is about the children.
The rules are exact, and the inspector checks. Amanda Rieder ran a home child care in rural Tyler, Minnesota, for eight years before closing it. She described the kind of detail an inspection turns on — a water heater's temperature, doors that must close on their own: “We had to either buy hinges that made the door self close, or you had to buy one of those attachments to screw onto your door that pulls it shut, and so we had to make those changes” (MPR News, September 2025). She also named the cost nobody budgets for: “We have a hard time finding homeowner's insurance, vehicle insurance, being able to just have the basic needs of coverage just because we're operating a day care” (NPR, November 2025).
“Personally, I opened my program with 3 children. It was difficult to ensure that I had enough income to justify calling myself a business.” — Cyndi Cunningham, licensed family child care provider in St. Paul for 27 years, in testimony to the Minnesota House, February 2025
There is no backup. When Kelly Dawn Jones, a home-based provider in Indiana, was pregnant, her options were to close for a while or hire a replacement — and she barely paid herself as it was. Even then, she wouldn't hire just anyone: “I don't want to hire a warm body. I want someone who's going to talk with [the kids], interact with them, joke with them, build relationships with them” (EdSurge, February 2025).
Pricing is a balancing act. Sarah Song cares for up to 12 children in her home in National City, near San Diego. Her insurance, food, gas and electricity costs have gone up, but her families face the same squeeze: “I'm undercharging families, but I'm aware of where I live and what I aim to provide” (Axios San Diego, March 2026). Elizabeth Olivo, a family child care provider in the Bronx, put it more bluntly: “Nearly every major operating expense for my family child care program has increased, making it more challenging to maintain stability while continuing to provide quality care for families” (The Hechinger Report, May 2026).
The through-line: the providers who last treat it as a business from day one — they know their rules, price from their real costs, fill every licensed spot and plan for the days they can't open.
THE STARTER KIT
What you need to start a home daycare
A space that passes inspection
Your state inspects the home before it licenses you: smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, safe exits, secured hazards, enough indoor and outdoor space per child. Read the checklist before you buy anything.
Training and clearances
Pediatric CPR and first aid, your state's pre-service training hours, and fingerprint background checks for you and every adult who lives in the home.
Cribs, cots and the daily kit
Safe cribs for infants, cots or mats for older children, high chairs, a changing area, and toys, books and art supplies for the ages you take.
Child-care liability insurance
Homeowner and renter policies almost always exclude a daycare. A separate child-care policy protects you, and many states require one before they license you.
Policies and paperwork
An enrollment agreement, a parent handbook (hours, fees, sick policy, holidays), and daily attendance, incident and medication logs.
A way for parents to find you
A website with your ages, hours, openings and a tour request, and a Google Business Profile — where parents look before they call.
THE PAPERWORK
Licenses, checks and insurance for a home daycare
| Typical cost | Time to get | Legally required? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| State child care license or registration | Set by your state | Weeks to months | Yes, above your state's small-home limit |
| Fingerprint background checks | Set by your state | Weeks | Yes, for you and adults in the home |
| Pediatric CPR and first aid | $69 in one worked example | A day | Yes, in most states |
| Pre-service training hours | Set by your state | Days to weeks | Yes, in most states |
| Home inspection | Usually part of the license | Scheduled by your licensor | Yes, before you open |
| General liability insurance | $91/month average | Days | Some states require it |
| EIN from the IRS | Free | Minutes online | No — but parents need a tax ID |
| Local zoning or home-business permit | Set by your city | Varies | Only where your city requires it |
| Child and Adult Care Food Program | Free to join | Weeks | No — it pays you back for meals |
THE STEPS
How to start a home daycare (step by step)
Six steps from “I want to do this” to your first enrolled family.
01
Read your state's rules first
Find your state's child-care licensing agency and read the family child care rules: how many children you can take, the ratios, the training and the inspection checklist. Everything else depends on them.
Rules vary by state02
Check zoning, your lease or HOA
Some cities, landlords and homeowners' associations restrict home businesses. Confirm before you spend on the space.
03
Train, clear and apply
Complete pediatric CPR, first aid and pre-service training, get fingerprints done for every adult in the home, and submit the license application.
04
Prepare the space and pass inspection
Childproof, fix what the checklist flags, set up nap, play and eating areas, and book the inspection.
05
Set tuition and write your policies
Price from local rates and your real costs, and write the enrollment agreement and handbook — payment in advance, sick policy, holidays, late pickup.
06
Get found and fill your spots
Put your website and Google Business Profile live, tell every parent you know, list with your local child-care referral agency, and ask each family for a review.
THE COSTS
How much does it cost to start a home daycare?
The lean figure is Child Care Aware of Missouri's estimate for a family child care home (June 2026); the full figure is Self-Help Credit Union's itemized worksheet for a home licensed for eight children, including three months of working capital and a 15% contingency. Insurance is Insureon's average general liability premium for its human and social services customers, which include daycares. A commercial center costs far more.
Under ~$2,000a lean start in a home that already suits it: background checks, safety items, inspection
$10,662a fully equipped home for eight children, one-time costs
$2,791of that: three months of working capital
$91/moaverage general liability premium, human and social services businesses
WHAT WE'VE LEARNED
What actually fills a daycare's spots
Thousands of local business websites in, the pattern for care businesses is clear: parents are buying trust, and three things on a page do most of the convincing.
The facts parents check first
Ages you take, hours, openings, your license number and where you are (the neighborhood is enough). A page that makes a parent call to find out loses them to one that doesn't.
A real look inside
Photos of the actual play space, nap area and yard — and of you. A home daycare is a person, not a brand, and a parent needs to see who they're leaving their child with.
Reviews and a tour button
Reviews from other parents, and a tour request that takes thirty seconds. The tour is where enrollment happens; everything on the site is there to get a parent to book one.
THE UPSIDE
What a home daycare can earn
Prices from Child Care Aware of America's 2025 averages for family child care homes (the average of state averages); wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics; meal rates from USDA's July 2026–June 2027 schedule for day care homes. Industry figures, not a promise — your state, your rates and your capacity decide it.
$10,572average yearly price for a 4-year-old in a family child care home
~$63,400six such children at that price, before costs
$3.31federal food program payment per lunch or supper, Tier I homes
$34,980median yearly pay for childcare workers, 2025 — employees, for comparison
SEE IT WORK
Daycare website designs you can start from
All four are real Zarla templates. Open the one closest to your program — a home daycare, an infant and toddler room, Montessori or play-based — swap in your ages, hours and photos, and publish.
GET FOUND
Get found by the parent searching on their lunch break
A website plus a Google Business Profile is how a parent decides who to call for a tour — Zarla sets up both and wires them together.
“Home daycare near me”
A parent going back to work in six weeks, searching on their lunch break. Your ages, hours, openings and license number on the page answer their first four questions before they call.
Google Business Profile
Your hours, the ages you take, photos of the play space and reviews inside Google Maps — free, an afternoon to set up, and where most parents look first.
Reviews from other parents
Parents choose care on trust, and trust comes from other parents. Ask every family for a review — they decide the tour for the next one.
Google Search
Llittleoaksfamilychildcare.com
Little Oaks Family Child Care — Trusted Daycare in Your AreaLicensed home daycare for ages 1 to 5. Small group, daily routine of play, meals, naps and early learning. Book a tour.← Your Zarla siteCcitydaycareservices.com
City Daycare ServicesGoogle Maps
1
Little Oaks Family Child Care
← You2
Metro Daycare Co.
3
Quick Daycare Services
AI assistants (ChatGPT / Perplexity)
For a licensed home daycare in your area: Little Oaks Family Child Care — a licensed home daycare for ages 1 to 5 with a small group, a daily routine parents can see, and tours by appointment.
YOUR LAUNCH PLAN
Your home daycare launch checklist
The whole guide as things to tick off. Work through them in order and you'll be licensed, priced, insured and findable before your first family starts.
- Read your state's family child care rules — the capacity limits, ratios, training hours and inspection checklist.
- Check zoning, your lease or your HOA — and get the property owner's written consent if you rent.
- Complete CPR, first aid and pre-service training — and book fingerprints for every adult in the home.
- Prepare the space and pass the inspection — detectors, exits, gates, water temperature, self-closing doors where required.
- Buy child care liability insurance — a homeowner's policy almost never covers a daycare.
- Register the business and get a free EIN — families need your taxpayer ID for their child care credit claim.
- Set tuition from your real costs and write your policies — payment in advance, a nonrefundable holding fee, sick days, holidays.
- Apply for the food program, then get found — put your website and Google Business Profile live, and ask every family for a review.
REAL CUSTOMERS
Small business owners who got online with Zarla
Verified reviews from real Zarla customers.
“Quickly built my website from scratch. No hiccups. Would highly recommend Zarla for someone with no experience who wants to start a polished business website.”
“I had no idea how to set up a website for my business. Thanks to Zarla, they've helped me a lot.”
“Great professional website in less than a minute, with the use of AI and a few descriptive prompts. This has saved me bundles of time and research on web developers.”
“Very reliable, professional, and fast results. I was able to get my business online in no time, and the ease of access made it so simple.”
Get your daycare in front of local parents
Add your town and your daycare's name, and Zarla builds the website from that one line — your ages, hours, openings and a tour-request form, connected to Google. Free to build; you pay when you publish.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to start a daycare?
A home daycare can start lean — Child Care Aware of Missouri puts a family child care home at under about $2,000 for background checks, safety items and the inspection. A fully equipped home for eight children came to $10,662 in one-time costs in Self-Help Credit Union's itemized worksheet, including three months of working capital and a 15% contingency. A commercial center, with a lease, a buildout and staff, costs far more.
Do I need a license to start a daycare from home?
In the US, almost always once you care for more than a few unrelated children. Every state sets minimum health and safety rules, and the point where a home needs a license or registration varies: Texas lets a listed family home care for up to 3 unrelated children and requires registration for up to 6; California licenses small family daycare homes for up to 8 children. Check your state's child care licensing agency before you enroll anyone.
How many children can I care for in a home daycare?
It depends on your state and your license. California allows 8 or fewer in a small family daycare home and 7 to 14 in a large one; New York allows 3 to 6 plus 2 school-age children in family day care. The national standard Caring for Our Children recommends that one caregiver with no children under two care for up to six, and fewer when babies are in the group — with your own young children counted.
How much do home daycares charge?
Child Care Aware of America's 2025 averages for family child care homes are $11,673 a year for an infant and $10,572 for a 4-year-old — roughly $200 to $225 a week — against $15,636 and $12,555 in centers. Prices swing widely by state and city, so compare what licensed homes near you charge, then check it against your own costs.
How much can you make running a home daycare?
Revenue is your enrolled children times your tuition: six preschoolers at the $10,572 national home average is about $63,400 a year before costs. What's left after food, supplies, insurance, utilities and any helper is your income. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that self-employed childcare workers' pay depends on the hours they work and the number and ages of the children in their care.
Can I start a daycare with no money?
Not quite, but close to it in a home that already suits the job. The lean start is mostly background checks, safety items and the inspection — under about $2,000 in Child Care Aware of Missouri's estimate. Start with the children your license allows, charge a nonrefundable holding fee to reserve a spot, and join the federal food program, which pays you back for eligible meals.
What is the CACFP, and how much does it pay a home daycare?
The Child and Adult Care Food Program is the USDA program that reimburses licensed providers for healthy meals and snacks. For July 2026 to June 2027, day care homes in the contiguous US get $1.74 per breakfast, $3.31 per lunch or supper and $0.98 per snack at Tier I rates, and $0.62, $1.99 and $0.27 at Tier II, through a sponsoring organization in your state.
Do I need an EIN for a home daycare?
Parents claiming the child and dependent care credit on IRS Form 2441 must list your name, address and a taxpayer ID number, so every family will ask for yours. Many home providers get a free EIN from the IRS so they have a business number to give families; ask your tax adviser which number you should use.
How do I get my daycare found by local parents?
Two things: a website and a Google Business Profile. The website should show the ages you take, your hours, openings, your license number, photos of the space, parent reviews and a tour request; the profile puts you on Google Maps for “daycare near me”. Zarla builds the website from one sentence and walks you through the profile — then ask every family for a review.