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Day care in North Carolina

How many day care exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 23 North Carolina 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 — 93% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in North Carolina

Day care

1,660

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

1.9

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

2.0

per 10,000 present

State index

93%

vs. U.S.

Residents

7,284,936

in covered counties

Workers

3,028,827

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 23 North Carolina 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 North Carolina

City	County	Day care	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Chapel Hill	Orange County	55–63	159,674	52,230	3.0	146–156%	Range spans bands
Fayetteville	Cumberland County	104–124	348,651	97,067	2.6	129–149%	Above average
Dunn	Harnett County	32–42	114,473	23,154	2.5	125–156%	Range spans bands
Durham	Durham County	100–120	327,804	174,233	2.4	119–126%	Above average
Greensboro	Guilford County	158–210	577,982	264,336	2.2	110–128%	Above average
Morrisville	Wake County	332–380	1,254,117	563,740	2.2	107–110%	Above average
Greenville	Pitt County	44–66	180,210	62,893	2.1	102–135%	Above average
Charlotte	Mecklenburg County	295–387	1,173,019	704,489	1.9	95–99%	Below average
Wilmington	New Hanover County	56–72	237,060	118,886	1.9	93–106%	Range spans bands
Clayton	Johnston County	39–53	189,124	42,187	1.9	91–115%	Range spans bands
Burlington	Alamance County	38–52	187,008	63,483	1.7	86–108%	Range spans bands
Monroe	Union County	46–54	250,703	61,424	1.6	81–91%	Below average
Concord	Cabarrus County	43–53	236,047	74,847	1.6	77–88%	Below average
Gastonia	Gaston County	43–61	238,761	70,983	1.6	77–102%	Range spans bands
Asheboro	Randolph County	22–40	127,973	30,351	1.5	76–124%	Range spans bands
Mooresville	Iredell County	34–52	192,680	79,784	1.5	72–89%	Below average
Winston Salem	Forsyth County	73–107	416,830	178,036	1.4	71–85%	Below average
Thomasville	Davidson County	23–35	142,181	36,165	1.4	71–89%	Below average
Jacksonville	Onslow County	32–48	204,246	41,476	1.4	70–96%	Below average
Asheville	Buncombe County	39–73	269,596	125,376	1.2	58–85%	Range spans bands
Salisbury	Rowan County	18–44	133,355	45,889	1.2	57–132%	Range spans bands
Leland	Brunswick County	15–31	151,179	32,781	0.9	44–85%	Range spans bands
Hickory	Catawba County	19–31	172,263	85,017	0.9	44–67%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

146%

129%

125%

119%

110%

107%

102%

95%

Most competitors per capita

44%

44%

57%

58%

70%

71%

71%

72%

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.