District of Columbia city directory

Childcare and daycare in Washington, DC

Washington has 459 licensed childcare centers and homes in District of Columbia's licensing records. Among the 1 District of Columbia cities with listings, Washington ranks #1 by centers and homes on file. By county, all 459 are recorded in District of Columbia County. Each listing below opens that center's own page, and shows its address, facility type and capacity where the state record has them.

Data updated Nov 8, 2026 · Source: Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning, Licensing and Compliance Unit (opens in a new tab) public records · District of Columbia childcare guide → · How we compile this →

  • 459licensed centers and homes in Washingtonon file in the state's licensing records
  • 26,768licensed seatsof 459 centers and homes reporting capacity
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Licensed childcare centers and homes in Washington

Showing 1 to 50 of 459 · sorted largest first · 50 per page

Paying for childcare in Washington

Two programs can help Washington families with the cost of care, and each has its own application. They are run by government agencies, not by Clear Day. Where a figure below says "In Washington", it counts Washington centers and homes; where it says "Across District of Columbia", it counts the whole state.

Head Start and Early Head Start

Federal programs for families with low incomes, from pregnancy through age five.

100%In Washingtonaccept Head Start1 of 1 center or home reporting

100%In Washingtonaccept Early Head Start22 of 22 centers and homes reporting

100%Across District of Columbiaaccept Head Start1 of 1 center reporting

100%Across District of Columbiaaccept Early Head Start21 of 21 centers reporting

Head Start locator (opens in a new tab)

More in the District of Columbiaguide →

Frequently asked questions about childcare in Washington

Answers use the numbers on this page.
How many childcare centers are in Washington?

Washington has 459 licensed childcare centers and homes in District of Columbia's licensing records. Among the 1 District of Columbia cities with listings, Washington ranks #1 by centers and homes on file. The records come from Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning, Licensing and Compliance Unit.

How do I check a District of Columbia daycare license?

Look the center up in My Child Care DC, District of Columbia's public license lookup, and confirm the license is active. Match the address on the state record to the address on the center's page here, then read whatever inspection or compliance information the state posts.

Open My Child Care DC (opens in a new tab)

What is the child-to-staff ratio for infants in District of Columbia?

For children 0–23 months in licensed child care centers, District of Columbia allows up to 4 children per staff member, a ratio of 1:4 under 5-A DCMR §121.3(a). For 24–29 months it is 1:4. The full District of Columbia table is in the District of Columbia guide.

District of Columbia ratios & requirements →

How we compile the data →

For center directors

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How this page is built. Listings, capacities and license types come from Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning, Licensing and Compliance Unit (opens in a new tab) public records; the Data updated date shows the last import. The notice below covers accuracy and how to verify a license.

This information is sourced from public records and may be incomplete or out of date. For the most current and accurate details, please verify directly with Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning, Licensing and Compliance Unit or contact the center directly. Clear Day does not rate, rank or endorse any center.

Data updated Nov 8, 2026 · Source: Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning, Licensing and Compliance Unit public records · District of Columbia license lookup (opens in a new tab) · How we compile this →

Contains data from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), published by DC GIS on Open Data DC as “Child Development Centers (opens in a new tab),” licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) (opens in a new tab). Clear Day has changed the data: it is filtered, standardized and summarized for this directory.