Methodology

How we compile the Clear Day childcare directory

Every state guide and center page is built from state records. This page says which records, what a percentage on the page is counted over, and where our limits are.

Where the data comes from

Center records come from each state's licensing public records, listed below with the agency that keeps them.

Quality rating, subsidy and pre-K program names on the state guides come from the same agencies’ own pages. Where we could not confirm a name against an official page, the guide leaves it out.

Ratios and other rules

A ratio table appears on a state guide only when we have the regulation it comes from.

Each row links to the regulation that sets it, and the guide names the rule next to the figure. Where we have no cited rule for a state yet, the guide shows no ratio table at all. We would rather leave a gap than print a number we cannot source.

Rules change. Read the linked rule text before relying on a figure, and confirm with the state agency if a decision depends on it.

How often the data is updated

Each state guide shows a “Data updated” date near the top. That is the date Clear Day last imported that state’s licensing records. It is not the date the state changed a record. If we do not have an import date for a state, the guide leaves the line out instead of guessing. We do not promise a fixed schedule, so the date on the page is the one to trust.

A center can change hands, move or close between refreshes. Check the state’s own lookup before you visit.

What licensed means

A licensed center holds a license, permit or certificate from the state agency that regulates child care. States use their own words for it (Pennsylvania calls it a certificate of compliance), and each state decides which programs it licenses.

We show the license status the state records. We do not inspect centers or verify a license ourselves, which is why each state guide walks you through the state’s own lookup.

Clear Day does not rate or review centers

We publish no stars, scores or rankings of our own, and we collect no parent reviews for the directory.

Some state guides show the state’s own quality rating program, such as a state’s level or star system. Those levels are the state’s, shown as the state’s, and only for states that run one. A center with no state rating is not a lower-rated center. It just has none on file.

How each percentage is counted

Every share on a state guide names what it is counted over, for example “of N centers reporting.” The denominator is the number of centers whose record reports that field. A center whose record says nothing about a field is left out of both the count and the denominator, so it is never counted as a “no.”

That means denominators differ from one figure to the next on the same page, and a state with sparse records for a field will show a smaller denominator. Compare shares within a state, not between states: each state records different things in different ways.

Corrections

If a center, a figure or a link on a state guide is wrong, tell us. A person reads every message. If the state’s record itself is wrong, the fix has to start with the state agency. The corrected record shows up here when we next refresh that state.