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Day care in Illinois

How many day care exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 16 Illinois 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 — 102% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in Illinois

Day care

2,608

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

2.1

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

State index

102%

vs. U.S.

Residents

10,329,940

in covered counties

Workers

4,617,467

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 16 Illinois 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 Illinois

City	County	Day care	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
North Chicago	Lake County	244–266	747,565	351,156	2.6	130–139%	Above average
Chicago	Cook County	1,605–1,717	5,132,257	2,445,383	2.5	124–130%	Above average
Downers Grove	DuPage County	230–252	961,096	599,180	1.8	90–94%	Below average
Moline	Rock Island County	30–62	144,245	64,178	1.7	84–151%	Range spans bands
Crystal Lake	McHenry County	61–81	328,030	92,834	1.6	80–104%	Range spans bands
Oswego	Kendall County	22–32	121,968	28,643	1.6	80–116%	Range spans bands
Champaign	Champaign County	38–86	208,555	71,922	1.6	77–161%	Range spans bands
Normal	McLean County	31–81	173,337	61,936	1.5	75–181%	Range spans bands
Springfield	Sangamon County	32–84	194,839	70,812	1.4	68–146%	Range spans bands
Bolingbrook	Will County	114–136	697,966	252,149	1.4	68–80%	Below average
O Fallon	St. Clair County	37–81	247,743	71,801	1.3	64–130%	Range spans bands
Elgin	Kane County	75–103	506,642	177,908	1.3	62–80%	Below average
Edwardsville	Madison County	36–78	268,375	94,295	1.1	56–122%	Range spans bands
East Peoria	Tazewell County	16–40	132,535	43,220	1.0	51–121%	Range spans bands
Peoria	Peoria County	18–78	179,934	81,431	0.8	40–134%	Range spans bands
Rockford	Winnebago County	19–59	284,853	110,619	0.6	28–68%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

130%

124%

90%

84%

80%

80%

77%

75%

Most competitors per capita

28%

40%

51%

56%

62%

64%

68%

68%

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.