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Day care in Florida

How many day care exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 34 Florida counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

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

State verdict (covered counties): Below the U.S. rate — 80% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Florida

Day care

4,077

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

1.6

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

State index

80%

vs. U.S.

Residents

21,120,689

in covered counties

Workers

7,706,993

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 34 Florida counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing day care and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in Florida

City	County	Day care	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Miami	Miami-Dade County	755–865	2,738,360	1,041,424	2.3	114–119%	Above average
Tallahassee	Leon County	75–101	297,542	106,232	2.1	105–119%	Above average
Lake Mary	Seminole County	113–137	441,429	185,405	2.1	104–106%	Above average
Gainesville	Alachua County	70–98	288,281	102,273	2.1	102–125%	Above average
Jacksonville	Duval County	258–306	1,020,642	499,883	2.0	100–108%	Above average
Tampa	Hillsborough	358–438	1,564,112	712,069	1.9	92–96%	Below average
Orlando	Orange County	347–427	1,506,022	844,340	1.8	89–96%	Below average
Sarasota	Manatee County	87–121	439,466	126,209	1.7	85–105%	Range spans bands
Fort Lauderdale	Broward County	396–480	1,977,129	774,635	1.7	83–88%	Below average
Pensacola	Escambia County	63–93	322,926	113,625	1.7	82–97%	Below average
Saint Petersburg	Pinellas County	191–269	963,481	418,050	1.6	80–96%	Below average
Orange Park	Clay County	39–51	224,705	47,711	1.6	77–89%	Below average
Boca Raton	Palm Beach County	283–361	1,539,829	591,843	1.5	76–86%	Below average
Kissimmee	Osceola County	71–83	412,031	97,295	1.5	76–82%	Below average
Saint Augustine	St. Johns County	54–64	311,914	80,233	1.5	76–81%	Below average
Daytona Beach	Volusia County	100–158	585,930	163,139	1.5	74–96%	Below average
New Port Richey	Pasco County	92–124	573,740	104,781	1.5	72–87%	Below average
Lakeland	Polk County	134–190	802,032	231,199	1.5	72–89%	Below average
Port Saint Lucie	St. Lucie County	56–82	355,354	72,740	1.4	70–91%	Below average
Panama City	Bay County	29–53	186,434	62,163	1.3	66–97%	Below average
Brooksville	Hernando County	28–42	201,196	41,648	1.3	62–80%	Below average
Vero Beach	Indian River County	23–45	166,936	51,187	1.2	59–84%	Range spans bands
Melbourne	Brevard County	84–142	633,463	195,669	1.1	57–74%	Range spans bands
Fort Myers	Lee County	108–164	817,109	263,033	1.1	56–74%	Range spans bands
Destin	Okaloosa County	25–49	219,979	65,772	1.0	49–84%	Range spans bands
Sarasota	Sarasota County	50–94	452,773	158,202	0.9	46–70%	Range spans bands
Clermont	Lake County	44–92	423,793	99,571	0.9	46–81%	Range spans bands
Ocala	Marion County	38–94	386,904	100,412	0.9	43–88%	Range spans bands
The Villages	Sumter County	14–28	146,639	29,603	0.9	43–85%	Range spans bands
Gulf Breeze	Santa Rosa County	18–28	200,703	34,765	0.8	41–54%	Well below average
Naples	Collier County	38–74	397,619	151,082	0.8	40–67%	Range spans bands
Punta Gorda	Charlotte County	16–40	200,084	42,254	0.7	36–76%	Range spans bands
Stuart	Martin County	13–33	160,167	68,029	0.7	33–58%	Well below average
Crystal River	Citrus County	7–43	161,965	30,517	0.4	19–86%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

114%

105%

104%

102%

100%

92%

89%

85%

Most competitors per capita

19%

33%

36%

40%

41%

43%

43%

46%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few day care may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

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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.