NYC Childcare Data Brief — July 2026

Data as of Jul 29, 2026. Every number below is computed from official government records — the city Health Department’s daily roster and inspection files, New York State’s licensing registry, and the DOE’s MySchools directory. No estimates, no survey data. Free to cite with a link.

The numbers

Licensed daycare centers2,733
Free Pre-K / 3-K programs1,884
Home-based programs (state-licensed)4,490
Centers with an open critical violation201
Centers with a clean recent record322
Home programs with uncorrected violations352
Home programs under state enforcement14
Centers with elevated water-lead results80

Free Pre-K and 3-K seats

The DOE’s MySchools directory lists 66,714 free seats across 1,122 sites in its most recent admissions data, with 75,356 applicants — about 1.13 applicants per seat citywide.

What changed this month

Programs whose official record changed since the start of the month, from the city and state records we track. Each links to its full record; "new open critical violation" and "enforcement action" report the government’s own status, which the program may have addressed since.

Newly listed on the city roster (2)

New state enforcement action this month (1)

New open critical violation this month (8)

About this data

Counts reflect the programs listed on official rosters on the date above. “Open critical” is the Health Department’s own severity class for issues posing a risk to children’s health or safety, not yet recorded as corrected. “Uncorrected” for home programs is the state record’s own status. Details and limitations: methodology.

Get next month's numbers by email

One email a month with the citywide brief — no other mail, unsubscribe anytime.

Cite this data

Free to reuse with a link (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:

NYC Daycare Check, “NYC Childcare Data Brief — July 2026,” computed from official NYC DOHMH, NYS OCFS, and NYC DOE records. https://nycdaycarecheck.com/briefs/2026-07

Download the monthly time series (CSV) → · RSS feed · For journalists →