Childcare Alerts

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California's Child Care Deserts

Where California families can — and can't — find licensed child care, mapped across all 58 counties from public U.S. Census data and the state's open child care data. Darker red means more young children per licensed provider.

2,097,790
PA children under 5
28,109
licensed providers
75
children per provider (statewide)
0
counties with no providers
Amador County — 72 children under 5 per providerGlenn County — 34 children under 5 per providerLake County — 56 children under 5 per providerMariposa County — 56 children under 5 per providerNapa County — 63 children under 5 per providerShasta County — 73 children under 5 per providerStanislaus County — 104 children under 5 per providerYuba County — 82 children under 5 per providerAlpine County — 21 children under 5 per providerButte County — 72 children under 5 per providerMendocino County — 64 children under 5 per providerModoc County — 19 children under 5 per providerMono County — 82 children under 5 per providerNevada County — 50 children under 5 per providerOrange County — 94 children under 5 per providerRiverside County — 103 children under 5 per providerSan Benito County — 61 children under 5 per providerSan Diego County — 70 children under 5 per providerSan Francisco County — 47 children under 5 per providerYolo County — 49 children under 5 per providerSan Mateo County — 51 children under 5 per providerSanta Barbara County — 53 children under 5 per providerSanta Cruz County — 39 children under 5 per providerSolano County — 75 children under 5 per providerSutter County — 64 children under 5 per providerTehama County — 53 children under 5 per providerTuolumne County — 70 children under 5 per providerCalaveras County — 61 children under 5 per providerContra Costa County — 62 children under 5 per providerDel Norte County — 60 children under 5 per providerImperial County — 53 children under 5 per providerKern County — 97 children under 5 per providerKings County — 71 children under 5 per providerMadera County — 86 children under 5 per providerColusa County — 32 children under 5 per providerInyo County — 44 children under 5 per providerMerced County — 83 children under 5 per providerPlumas County — 40 children under 5 per providerSan Joaquin County — 89 children under 5 per providerSierra County — 41 children under 5 per providerTulare County — 77 children under 5 per providerMarin County — 42 children under 5 per providerMonterey County — 75 children under 5 per providerPlacer County — 59 children under 5 per providerFresno County — 111 children under 5 per providerHumboldt County — 63 children under 5 per providerLassen County — 88 children under 5 per providerLos Angeles County — 74 children under 5 per providerSacramento County — 69 children under 5 per providerSan Bernardino County — 129 children under 5 per providerVentura County — 80 children under 5 per providerAlameda County — 58 children under 5 per providerSan Luis Obispo County — 52 children under 5 per providerSiskiyou County — 59 children under 5 per providerSonoma County — 71 children under 5 per providerTrinity County — 46 children under 5 per providerEl Dorado County — 69 children under 5 per providerSanta Clara County — 59 children under 5 per provider

Hover a county for its name and supply number · click a county to see its providers.

No licensed providersOver 82 children per provider71–8260–7050–59Under 49 (best supply)

The tightest supply

CountyChildren under 5Licensed providersChildren per provider
San Bernardino135,4011046129
Fresno70,027633111
Stanislaus36,344349104
Riverside142,3041383103
Kern63,30065597
Orange157,073166994
San Joaquin51,29457789
Lassen1,4061688
Madera10,78712586
Merced19,96624283
Yuba6,1627582
Mono577782

Methodology & sources

Demand: children under 5 by county, U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates (2023 vintage). Supply: licensed child care providers from California DHS open data (data.pa.gov), placed to counties by the state's county field. The ratio counts providers, not licensed capacity. Childcare Alerts is an independent service, not affiliated with any state agency. See the Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Texas maps too.