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Day care in Massachusetts

How many day care exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 10 Massachusetts 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): Above the U.S. rate — 122% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Massachusetts

Day care

2,084

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

2.5

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

State index

122%

vs. U.S.

Residents

6,803,736

in covered counties

Workers

3,256,157

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 10 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts

City	County	Day care	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Canton	Norfolk County	310–334	720,686	332,697	3.5	172–180%	High density
Waltham	Middlesex County	616–680	1,653,842	958,530	2.9	142–150%	Range spans bands
Taunton	Bristol County	176–214	582,221	200,378	2.6	127–143%	Above average
Andover	Essex County	235–281	812,999	284,682	2.5	121–137%	Above average
Brockton	Plymouth County	146–192	530,039	179,501	2.4	116–132%	Above average
Boston	Suffolk County	264–296	780,506	719,212	2.3	114–119%	Above average
Northampton	Hampshire County	38–80	161,056	46,046	2.1	102–198%	Range spans bands
Holyoke	Hampden County	98–160	462,692	149,833	1.8	90–125%	Range spans bands
Westborough	Worcester County	182–308	865,923	309,231	1.8	88–136%	Range spans bands
Hyannis	Barnstable County	19–117	233,772	76,047	0.7	34–183%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

172%

142%

127%

121%

116%

114%

102%

90%

Most competitors per capita

34%

88%

90%

102%

114%

116%

121%

127%

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.