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Day care in Missouri

How many day care exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 8 Missouri 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): In line with the U.S. rate — 91% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Missouri

Day care

783

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

1.8

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

State index

91%

vs. U.S.

Residents

3,408,135

in covered counties

Workers

1,689,538

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 8 Missouri 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 Missouri

City	County	Day care	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Columbia	Boone County	72–90	189,673	82,732	3.1	154–179%	High density
Saint Louis	St. Louis city	98–120	279,896	184,510	2.6	130–138%	Above average
Kansas City	Jackson County	165–235	725,261	342,399	1.8	91–121%	Range spans bands
Saint Peters	St. Charles County	89–107	416,486	143,295	1.8	90–102%	Range spans bands
Saint Louis	St. Louis County	241–277	1,028,683	614,590	1.8	89–96%	Below average
Springfield	Greene County	52–82	302,944	165,857	1.3	66–94%	Below average
Kansas City	Clay County	40–66	265,074	118,425	1.2	61–94%	Below average
Arnold	Jefferson County	26–48	200,118	37,730	1.2	59–99%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

154%

130%

91%

90%

89%

66%

61%

59%

Most competitors per capita

59%

61%

66%

89%

90%

91%

130%

154%

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.