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Orange County, CA — Day care Saturation

Name: Day care density by ZIP code in Orange County, CA
Creator: BizGapMap

How many day care exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 135 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Child day care centers · Preschools & pre-K · Family home day care · After-school programs. Counted together because official statistics use one 624410 code.

Measured density: Below average — 0.76× the U.S. rate (between 0.76× and 0.81× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 68 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 21 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Below the U.S. rate Orange County day care — 76–81% of the U.S. rate

611 day care are counted in Orange County — 1.5 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 76% of the U.S. rate of 2.0.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 23% between 2015 and 2023 (482 → 592). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 92604 (Irvine), 92620 (Irvine), 92606 (Irvine) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 92843 (Garden Grove), 92831 (Fullerton), 92646 (Huntington Beach).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 632 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Orange County sits at 76% of the U.S. rate for day care. 21 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 76% and 81% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 92604 and 92620; the lowest measured density is in 92843 and 92831.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing day care and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Day care

611–747

published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (68 cells) (2023)

Per 10,000 present

1.5

residents + daytime workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

County index

0.76×

vs. U.S.

Latest year (CBP)

632

2023 — $251M annual payroll

Residents

3,175,270

88 ZIPs with data

Workers

1,572,620

jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population

3,170,435

Census PEP, July 1 2024

Change since 2020

−0.5%

−15,826 people

Net migration 2024

+7,389

international +29,759, domestic −22,370

Jobs located here

1,697,322

LODES 2022, +0.7% since 2019

Orange County had an estimated 3,170,435 residents on July 1, 2024 — 0.5% fewer than in 2020 (−15,826). In the latest year it gained 15,872 people: births minus deaths +8,437, international migration +29,759, domestic migration −22,370. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

1,697,322 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.7% since 2019), and 1,480,984 employed residents lived there (−1.0% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits → · Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents

2015–19 → 2020–24

Change

92617 Irvine

+39.7%

92618 Irvine

+35.0%

92782 Tustin

+30.3%

ZIP losing residents

2015–19 → 2020–24

Change

92610 Foothill Ranch

−21.4%

92701 Santa Ana

−13.1%

92691 Mission Viejo

−9.8%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses (no paid employees)

Nonemployer businesses

4,339

no paid employees (2024)

Receipts

$98.1M

published gross receipts

Receipts per business

$23K

gross, not profit

Census Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with no paid employees — a separate universe from the employer establishments counted above; a business is in one or the other, never both. They are not storefronts by definition: many are home-based, mobile, or part-time.

We show them beside the density index, not inside it. In categories such as nail and beauty salons, child care, and pet care, one-person businesses can outnumber employer establishments, so the employer-only count understates how many businesses exist. That is not evidence of higher demand.

Receipts are gross revenue reported for these businesses — not profit, and not the size of the local market. Census publishes this only at county level, so it is not shown on the ZIP map. See methodology.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:

Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more day care in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 23% since 2015

Number of day care in Orange County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

482

2015

498

2018

522

2020

539

2021

576

2022

592

2023

Highest measured density

ZIP

vs. U.S. average

Index

92604 Irvine

310%

92620 Irvine

203%

92606 Irvine

197%

92603 Irvine

174%

92845 Garden Grove

168%

90623 La Palma

158%

92780 Tustin

156%

92691 Mission Viejo

138%

92625 Corona Del Mar

138%

92630 Lake Forest

137%

90621 Buena Park

130%

92688 Rancho Santa Margarita

123%

92602 Irvine

120%

90620 Buena Park

119%

92805 Anaheim

112%

Lowest measured density

ZIP

vs. U.S. average

Index

92843 Garden Grove

28%

92831 Fullerton

32%

92646 Huntington Beach

34%

92672 San Clemente

34%

92704 Santa Ana

36%

92648 Huntington Beach

36%

92867 Orange

36%

92841 Garden Grove

37%

92868 Orange

38%

92626 Costa Mesa

42%

92649 Huntington Beach

45%

92683 Westminster

45%

92703 Santa Ana

45%

92660 Newport Beach

45%

92656 Aliso Viejo

46%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few day care may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIP	Neighborhood	Type	Residents	Workers	Day care	Index
92614	Irvine	Employment hub	29,239	71,739	13	98%

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = day care per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIP	Neighborhood	Residents	Workers	Day care	Per 10k	Index	Status
92604	Irvine	26,491	7,418	19	6.3	310%	Very high density
92620	Irvine	61,631	7,841	27	4.1	203%	High density
92606	Irvine	23,990	22,200	14	4.0	197%	High density
92603	Irvine	18,387	2,938	7	3.5	174%	High density
92845	Garden Grove	16,143	2,981	6	3.4	168%	High density
90623	La Palma	15,545	6,336	6	3.2	158%	High density
92780	Tustin	54,374	36,196	23	3.2	156%	High density
92691	Mission Viejo	45,841	22,393	16	2.8	138%	Above average
92625	Corona Del Mar	12,294	4,050	4	2.8	138%	Above average
92630	Lake Forest	67,152	24,355	22	2.8	137%	Above average
90621	Buena Park	35,984	11,275	11	2.6	130%	Above average
92688	Rancho Santa Margarita	43,320	17,871	13	2.5	123%	Above average
92602	Irvine	28,261	9,006	8	2.4	120%	Above average
90620	Buena Park	46,608	23,068	14	2.4	119%	Above average
92805	Anaheim	74,661	26,571	20	2.3	112%	Above average
92706	Santa Ana	37,175	6,316	9	2.2	110%	Above average
90720	Los Alamitos	23,805	15,195	7	2.2	110%	Above average
92840	Garden Grove	54,534	9,589	13	2.2	108%	Above average
92869	Orange	36,271	5,428	8	2.1	101%	Above average
92801	Anaheim	60,547	26,223	15	2.0	100%	Above average
92806	Anaheim	41,003	47,143	13	2.0	99%	Below average
92614	Irvine	29,239	71,739	13	2.0	98%	Below average
92677	Laguna Niguel	64,139	15,621	14	1.9	96%	Below average
92844	Garden Grove	23,188	5,028	5	1.9	96%	Below average
92647	Huntington Beach	59,047	26,672	14	1.9	95%	Below average
92694	Ladera Ranch	35,764	4,795	7	1.8	90%	Below average
90630	Cypress	49,318	21,856	11	1.8	90%	Below average
92692	Mission Viejo	47,022	6,539	9	1.8	88%	Below average
92612	Irvine	33,714	47,161	10	1.7	86%	Below average
90631	La Habra	68,309	15,356	13	1.7	84%	Below average
92618	Irvine	66,126	130,760	22	1.7	82%	Below average
92886	Yorba Linda	49,704	8,621	9	1.7	82%	Below average
92808	Anaheim	21,539	5,987	4	1.6	80%	Below average
92610	Foothill Ranch	12,867	11,543	3	1.6	79%	Below average
92807	Anaheim	37,296	25,692	8	1.6	79%	Below average
92653	Laguna Hills	29,624	20,458	6	1.5	74%	Below average
92804	Anaheim	83,537	8,751	13	1.5	73%	Below average
92705	Santa Ana	48,781	52,604	11	1.5	72%	Below average
92782	Tustin	30,073	9,254	5	1.4	71%	Below average
92627	Costa Mesa	60,393	18,633	10	1.4	71%	Below average
92673	San Clemente	29,406	11,028	5	1.4	71%	Below average
92833	Fullerton	51,842	9,105	8	1.4	70%	Below average
92675	San Juan Capistrano	35,095	15,336	6	1.4	69%	Below average
90740	Seal Beach	24,254	11,439	4	1.3	66%	Below average
92701	Santa Ana	47,818	13,166	7	1.3	63%	Below average
92802	Anaheim	43,132	53,713	9	1.3	63%	Below average
92707	Santa Ana	58,695	24,470	9	1.3	63%	Below average
92835	Fullerton	26,005	12,791	4	1.2	61%	Below average
92708	Fountain Valley	56,258	28,817	8	1.1	56%	Below average
92821	Brea	41,623	53,249	7	1.0	51%	Below average
92870	Placentia	52,826	12,959	6	1.0	50%	Far below average
92629	Dana Point	25,579	9,121	3	1.0	49%	Far below average
92656	Aliso Viejo	52,229	24,852	6	0.9	46%	Far below average
92660	Newport Beach	34,890	60,414	6	0.9	45%	Far below average
92703	Santa Ana	62,447	5,941	6	0.9	45%	Far below average
92683	Westminster	89,833	18,171	9	0.9	45%	Far below average
92649	Huntington Beach	35,346	17,452	4	0.9	45%	Far below average
92626	Costa Mesa	50,708	61,637	7	0.9	42%	Far below average
92868	Orange	26,380	50,123	4	0.8	38%	Far below average
92841	Garden Grove	33,219	13,789	3	0.7	37%	Far below average
92867	Orange	44,726	19,456	4	0.7	36%	Far below average
92648	Huntington Beach	45,827	17,805	4	0.7	36%	Far below average
92704	Santa Ana	82,120	29,907	7	0.7	36%	Far below average
92672	San Clemente	36,939	12,008	3	0.7	34%	Far below average
92646	Huntington Beach	54,615	7,213	4	0.7	34%	Far below average
92831	Fullerton	35,618	19,845	3	0.7	32%	Far below average
92843	Garden Grove	46,414	12,390	3	0.6	28%	Far below average
90622	Buena Park	—	893	0–2	—	—	Not published
90632	La Habra	—	63	0–2	—	—	Not published
90633	La Habra	—	88	0–2	—	—	Not published
90680	Stanton	31,991	7,219	0–2	—	—	Not published
90721	Los Alamitos	—	42	0–2	—	—	Not published
90742	Sunset Beach	405	403	0–2	—	—	Not published
90743	Surfside	468	48	0–2	—	—	Not published
92605	Huntington Beach	—	47	0–2	—	—	Not published
92607	Laguna Niguel	—	55	0–2	—	—	Not published
92609	El Toro	—	56	0–2	—	—	Not published
92615	Huntington Beach	—	182	0–2	—	—	Not published
92616	Irvine	—	64	0–2	—	—	Not published
92617	Irvine	24,017	9,220	0–2	—	—	Not published
92619	Irvine	—	464	0–2	—	—	Not published
92623	Irvine	—	92	0–2	—	—	Not published
92624	Capistrano Beach	7,211	1,069	0–2	—	—	Not published
92628	Costa Mesa	—	133	0–2	—	—	Not published
92637	Laguna Woods	17,289	2,030	0–2	—	—	Not published
92651	Laguna Beach	23,557	10,107	0–2	—	—	Not published
92652	Laguna Beach	—	154	0–2	—	—	Not published
92654	Laguna Hills	—	62	0–2	—	—	Not published
92655	Midway City	8,026	426	0–2	—	—	Not published
92657	Newport Coast	9,920	3,420	0–2	—	—	Not published
92658	Newport Beach	—	97	0–2	—	—	Not published
92659	Newport Beach	—	13	0–2	—	—	Not published
92661	Newport Beach	3,079	968	0–2	—	—	Not published
92662	Newport Beach	2,294	676	0–2	—	—	Not published
92663	Newport Beach	21,368	14,263	0–2	—	—	Not published
92674	San Clemente	—	79	0–2	—	—	Not published
92676	Silverado	2,085	168	0–2	—	—	Not published
92678	Trabuco Canyon	664	73	0–2	—	—	Not published
92679	Trabuco Canyon	30,818	2,512	0–2	—	—	Not published
92684	Westminster	—	4	0–2	—	—	Not published
92685	Westminster	—	19	0–2	—	—	Not published
92690	Mission Viejo	—	41	0–2	—	—	Not published
92693	San Juan Capistrano	—	168	0–2	—	—	Not published
92697	Irvine	0	236	0–2	—	—	Not published
92698	Aliso Viejo	—	15	0–2	—	—	Not published
92702	Santa Ana	—	133	0–2	—	—	Not published
92711	Santa Ana	—	71	0–2	—	—	Not published
92728	Fountain Valley	—	119	0–2	—	—	Not published
92781	Tustin	—	107	0–2	—	—	Not published
92799	Santa Ana	—	15	0–2	—	—	Not published
92803	Anaheim	—	654	0–2	—	—	Not published
92809	Anaheim	—	13	0–2	—	—	Not published
92811	Atwood	—	12	0–2	—	—	Not published
92812	Anaheim	—	35	0–2	—	—	Not published
92816	Anaheim	—	5	0–2	—	—	Not published
92817	Anaheim	—	23	0–2	—	—	Not published
92822	Brea	—	52	0–2	—	—	Not published
92823	Brea	5,846	5,290	0–2	—	—	Not published
92825	Anaheim	—	13	0–2	—	—	Not published
92832	Fullerton	27,298	11,170	0–2	—	—	Not published
92834	Fullerton	—	745	0–2	—	—	Not published
92836	Fullerton	—	61	0–2	—	—	Not published
92837	Fullerton	—	134	0–2	—	—	Not published
92838	Fullerton	—	43	0–2	—	—	Not published
92842	Garden Grove	—	13	0–2	—	—	Not published
92846	Garden Grove	—	25	0–2	—	—	Not published
92856	Orange	—	22	0–2	—	—	Not published
92859	Orange	—	53	0–2	—	—	Not published
92861	Villa Park	5,748	1,190	0–2	—	—	Not published
92863	Orange	—	64	0–2	—	—	Not published
92865	Orange	20,589	17,444	0–2	—	—	Not published
92866	Orange	15,331	9,454	0–2	—	—	Not published
92871	Placentia	—	46	0–2	—	—	Not published
92885	Yorba Linda	—	116	0–2	—	—	Not published
92887	Yorba Linda	19,725	7,810	0–2	—	—	Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Irvine

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet

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Browse Irvine retail space →

Crexi

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CityFeet

Retail space for lease

Browse Irvine retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Orange County and day care

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

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Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 624410 — child day care services. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 632 establishments and $251M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (2.03 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology → · Data sources & vintages →

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BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.