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Massachusetts Child Care: Licensed Programs
Childcare Alerts indexes every licensed early education and care program in Massachusetts from the state's open data. This report summarizes the landscape and points you to each program's official state record. It is a factual overview, not a safety rating of any program.
Massachusetts has 9,097 licensed early education and care programs on public record across 14 counties. Massachusetts's open data is a directory — the licensing and inspection history for a program lives on the official state record, which we link to on every program page.
Program types
| Type | Programs |
|---|---|
| Family Child Care | 6,082 |
| Center-based Care | 3,011 |
| Private School | 2 |
| Public School | 2 |
Where the programs are
Massachusetts cities/towns with the most licensed programs:
- Lawrence — 505 programs
- Springfield — 473 programs
- Worcester — 423 programs
- Lowell — 286 programs
- Lynn — 263 programs
- Dorchester — 225 programs
- Boston — 217 programs
- Methuen — 158 programs
- Brockton — 151 programs
- Haverhill — 145 programs
Massachusetts child care in the news
Recent third-party coverage of Massachusetts child care. Headlines link to the original source — these are news reports, not our licensing records.
- Berkshire United Way gets $400K to expand affordable childcare accessWNYT.com · Jul 28, 2026
- Pennsylvania launches free heat pump training, with child care and tool help, to fill HVAC jobsThe Cool Down · Jul 27, 2026
- Upwards to Power First-of-Its-Kind Shared-Funding Child Care Program in MassachusettsBusiness Wire · Jul 24, 2026
- State awards Berkshire United Way $400K to pilot employer-backed childcare programThe Berkshire Eagle · Jul 22, 2026
- Heywood Healthcare tackles child care cost barriersThe Gardner News · Jul 21, 2026
- Expanding Employer-Supported Child CareSpectrum News · Jul 21, 2026
Coverage is gathered automatically from public news sources and isn't an endorsement; we link out and don't host the articles.
How to check a specific program
Search any Massachusetts program by name or city to see its details and a link to the official state record.
Methodology & source
Programs: the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care open data (educationtocareer.data.mass.gov). Childcare Alerts surfaces and summarizes these public records; the official government record always controls, and the absence of a record is not a guarantee of safety. Childcare Alerts is an independent service, not affiliated with any state agency.