Child day care centers in Iowa: 805 locations, -1.0% jobs
Official counts for child day care centers in Iowa, 2026 Q1: how many there are, whether they are adding jobs, what they pay, and how Iowa compares with the other states. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau, refreshed each quarter.
Iowa against the country · 2026 Q1
| Iowa | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Child day care centers with employees | 805 | 79,617 |
| Per 100,000 residents | 24.8 | 23.4 |
| Jobs | 13,022 | 988,501 |
| Jobs, year over year | -1.0% | -1.1% |
| Locations, year over year | -0.7% | +0.9% |
| Average weekly wage | $443 | $632 |
| Rank among states, density | 25 of 50 | |
| Rank among states, job growth | 29 of 50 |
What the numbers say
Iowa has 805 child day care centers with payroll, employing 13,022 people. At 24.8 per 100,000 residents the market is close to the national average, number 25 among the 50 states with published data. Jobs fell 1.0% over the year, against -1.1% nationally.
Average pay at child day care centers in Iowa is $443 a week, 30% below the national figure of $632. Budget labor from this number, not from a national guide.
Over five years, from 2021 to 2025, the number of child day care centers in Iowa moved +0.5%, from 811 to 815.
Child day care centers in Iowa, annual average
- 2021811
- 2022838
- 2023839
- 2024824
- 2025815
Jobs at child day care centers in Iowa
- 202111,726
- 202212,305
- 202312,739
- 202412,997
- 202513,010
What counts as "child day care centers" here
Child day care services: centers and licensed in-home providers caring for infants and children, including preschool programs without a school-system affiliation. The code is NAICS 624410. BLS counts establishments that report payroll, so a one-person business with no employees is not in these figures; in trades with many solo operators the true number of businesses is higher.
Before you open one in Iowa
A statewide figure tells you which way the wind blows. It does not tell you whether the corner you are looking at has the households, the income and the gap in competition to support one more. A counts the child day care centers within reach of one address in Iowa, reads the county trend from the same BLS table, and scores the plan. The saturation check does a city-level version for free.
Questions people ask
How many child day care centers are there in Iowa?
BLS counted 805 child day care centers with employees in Iowa in 2026 Q1, employing 13,022 people. Owner-only businesses with no payroll are not in that count. That is 24.8 per 100,000 residents, against 23.4 nationally.
Are child day care centers growing in Iowa?
Not at the moment. Jobs at child day care centers in Iowa changed -1.0% over the year to 2026 Q1, and the number of locations changed -0.7%. That ranks Iowa 29 of 50 states for job growth in this business type. Over five years the location count moved +0.5%.
Is Iowa a crowded market for child day care centers?
Iowa has 24.8 child day care centers per 100,000 residents, close to the national average, ranking 25 of 50 states. Density is a statewide average; a Neur report counts the competitors around one address.
Child day care centers in every state
Densest first. The number is child day care centers per 100,000 residents in 2026 Q1.
Other business types in Iowa
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private sector, NAICS 624410, 2026 Q1 (quarterly) and annual averages (five-year series); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year population estimates. This page is generated from those feeds and rewritten when a new quarter publishes. All 14 business types in Iowa · Growth ranking for Iowa · Child day care centers by state