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Washington Child Care: Providers & Quality Ratings
Childcare Alerts indexes every licensed child care provider in Washington from the state's open data, including each provider's Early Achievers quality rating. This report summarizes the landscape. It is a factual overview, not a safety rating of any provider.
Washington has 2,501 licensed child care providers on public record across 38 counties. Washington publishes each provider's Early Achievers quality rating, which we surface on every provider page.
Early Achievers quality ratings
| Rating | Providers |
|---|---|
| Level 2 | 33 |
| Level 3 | 502 |
| Level 3+ | 139 |
| Level 4 | 219 |
| Level 5 | 108 |
Early Achievers is Washington's voluntary quality-rating system; a higher level reflects more of the program-quality standards met. Not every provider participates, so an unrated provider is not necessarily lower quality.
Provider types
| Type | Providers |
|---|---|
| Child Care Center | 1,842 |
| School-Age Program | 631 |
| Outdoor Nature-Based Program | 28 |
Where the providers are
Washington counties with the most licensed child care providers:
- King County — 894 providers
- Pierce County — 301 providers
- Snohomish County — 233 providers
- Spokane County — 164 providers
- Clark County — 140 providers
- Yakima County — 103 providers
- Thurston County — 93 providers
- Kitsap County — 79 providers
- Whatcom County — 72 providers
- Benton County — 62 providers
Washington child care in the news
Recent third-party coverage of Washington child care. Headlines link to the original source — these are news reports, not our licensing records.
- Badger Joins Business Leaders and Members of Congress in Washington, DC to Advocate for Childcare AccessEIN Presswire · Jul 27, 2026
- Creative Sprouts Held Second Childcare Training this WeekKCII Radio Washington, Iowa · Jul 25, 2026
- The Friday Five: The Latest Child Care and Early Learning NewsFirst Five Years Fund · Jul 24, 2026
- Baby violently assaulted by woman at unlicensed home daycare: policeWCIV · Jul 24, 2026
- Baby violently assaulted by woman at unlicensed home daycare: policeKBOI · Jul 24, 2026
- Civil rights groups sue HHS for cutting child care, family assistanceFOX 2 Detroit · Jul 23, 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 provider
Search any Washington provider by name or city to see its Early Achievers rating and a link to the official state record.
Methodology & source
Providers and Early Achievers ratings: the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families open licensed-provider data (data.wa.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.