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Day care in Indiana

How many day care exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 13 Indiana 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 — 84% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Indiana

Day care

807

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

1.7

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

State index

84%

vs. U.S.

Residents

3,866,365

in covered counties

Workers

1,755,717

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 13 Indiana 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 Indiana

City	County	Day care	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Indianapolis	Marion County	281–313	989,752	553,644	2.2	109–113%	Above average
Carmel	Hamilton County	88–104	350,555	148,035	2.1	102–116%	Above average
Merrillville	Lake County	117–147	504,725	171,014	2.0	98–114%	Range spans bands
Evansville	Vanderburgh County	39–69	183,565	100,123	1.7	82–95%	Below average
Mishawaka	St. Joseph County	55–83	282,397	119,989	1.6	79–105%	Range spans bands
Fort Wayne	Allen County	67–109	388,924	183,279	1.4	69–102%	Range spans bands
Bloomington	Monroe County	23–37	139,244	52,277	1.4	69–98%	Below average
Lafayette	Tippecanoe County	31–55	189,059	73,390	1.4	68–103%	Range spans bands
Plainfield	Hendricks County	25–37	160,055	69,775	1.3	63–94%	Below average
Valparaiso	Porter County	22–34	167,541	55,427	1.1	56–81%	Range spans bands
Anderson	Madison County	15–43	132,011	34,649	1.0	49–122%	Range spans bands
Greenwood	Johnson County	20–30	170,596	63,290	1.0	49–73%	Range spans bands
Elkhart	Elkhart County	24–42	207,941	130,825	0.9	43–68%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

109%

102%

98%

82%

79%

69%

69%

68%

Most competitors per capita

43%

49%

49%

56%

63%

68%

69%

69%

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.