Percent Change in Publicly Funded Child Care Enrollment in California, 2021-2024

Click on the buttons below to see the percent change by child care setting:

Licensed Child Care Centers Licensed Family Child Care Homes
Family, Friend, and Neighbor Care

This heat map shows the percent change in publicly funded child care enrollment in California from October 2021 to October 2024. Overall, enrollment increased 77% over this three-year period ranging from a 160% increase in Santa Barbara County to a 1% increase in Mariposa County. In the heat map, a small percent change from 0 to 50% is represented with a neutral cream and larger percent changes are represented with a pale aqua to a dark navy blue for the largest percent change over 300%.

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Note: Data are as of October of each year. Data include CalWORKs Stage 1, CalWORKs Stage 2, CalWORKs Stage 3, Alternative Payment Program, General Child Care, Migrant Child Care, and Children with Severe Disabilities (CHAN). Data do not include CalWORKs Stage 2 child care offered through California Community Colleges or the Emergency Child Care Bridge Program.

Source: Budget Center analysis of data from the California Department of Social Services