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Harris County, TX — Day care Saturation

How many day care exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 213 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Child day care centers · Preschools & pre-K · Family home day care · After-school programs. Counted together because official statistics use one 624410 code.

Measured density: Below average — 0.83× the U.S. rate (between 0.83× and 0.88× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 111 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 31 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Below the U.S. rate   Harris County day care — 83–88% of the U.S. rate

1,000 day care are counted in Harris County — 1.7 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 83% of the U.S. rate of 2.0.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 20% between 2015 and 2023 (783 → 940). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 77021 (Houston), 77504 (Pasadena), 77090 (Houston) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 77041 (Houston), 77060 (Houston), 77080 (Houston).

Census County Business Patterns (2023) puts the county-wide count at 1,028 establishments, including locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA — so it can run slightly above the sum of the ZIP rows on this page. It is annual, so it lags more than QCEW.

Measured density: Harris County sits at 83% of the U.S. rate for day care. 31 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 83% and 88% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 77021 and 77504; the lowest measured density is in 77041 and 77060.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing day care and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Day care
1,000–1,222
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (111 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
1.7
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
2.0
per 10,000 present
County index
0.83×
vs. U.S.
Latest year (CBP)
1,028
2023 — $422M annual payroll
Residents
4,866,005
133 ZIPs with data
Workers
2,159,333
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
5,009,302
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+5.8%
+273,919 people
Net migration 2024
+69,961
international +101,126, domestic −31,165
Jobs located here
2,441,590
LODES 2022, +0.2% since 2019

Harris County had an estimated 5,009,302 residents on July 1, 2024 — 5.8% more than in 2020 (+273,919). In the latest year it gained 105,852 people: births minus deaths +35,833, international migration +101,126, domestic migration −31,165. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

2,441,590 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.2% since 2019), and 2,002,504 employed residents lived there (−0.3% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
77493 Katy
+96.7%
77447 Hockley
+55.3%
77484 Waller
+31.9%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
77023 Houston
−16.7%
77067 Houston
−13.4%
77401 Bellaire
−11.1%

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses (no paid employees)

Nonemployer businesses
10,778
no paid employees (2024)
Receipts
$157.0M
published gross receipts
Receipts per business
$15K
gross, not profit

Census Nonemployer Statistics counts businesses with no paid employees — a separate universe from the employer establishments counted above; a business is in one or the other, never both. They are not storefronts by definition: many are home-based, mobile, or part-time.

We show them beside the density index, not inside it. In categories such as nail and beauty salons, child care, and pet care, one-person businesses can outnumber employer establishments, so the employer-only count understates how many businesses exist. That is not evidence of higher demand.

Receipts are gross revenue reported for these businesses — not profit, and not the size of the local market. Census publishes this only at county level, so it is not shown on the ZIP map. See methodology.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more day care in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 20% since 2015

Number of day care in Harris County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

783
2015
877
2018
860
2020
880
2021
886
2022
940
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
77021 Houston
294%
77504 Pasadena
198%
77090 Houston
185%
77450 Katy
178%
77379 Spring
162%
77005 Houston
158%
77071 Houston
154%
77089 Houston
153%
77062 Houston
146%
77018 Houston
143%
77099 Houston
143%
77098 Houston
141%
77083 Houston
140%
77067 Houston
138%
77065 Houston
138%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
77041 Houston
24%
77060 Houston
26%
77080 Houston
28%
77043 Houston
34%
77040 Houston
35%
77024 Houston
36%
77521 Baytown
38%
77093 Houston
39%
77086 Houston
44%
77034 Houston
44%
77006 Houston
46%
77057 Houston
48%
77505 Pasadena
48%
77063 Houston
48%
77007 Houston
50%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few day care may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersDay careIndex
77056Houston Employment hub 22,87756,519 10 96%
77002Houston Employment hub 21,01593,588 8 58%
77027Houston Employment hub 20,31741,087 4 48%
77010Houston Destination 71817,148 0–2 —
77030Houston Employment hub 13,380105,516 0–2 —
77032Houston Employment hub 12,40347,839 0–2 —
77046Houston Destination 1,79318,455 0–2 —
77507Pasadena Destination 56711,030 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = day care per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersDay care Per 10kIndexStatus
77021Houston 26,1538,079 18 6.0 294% Very high density
77504Pasadena 25,7798,019 12 4.0 198% High density
77090Houston 40,11015,891 18 3.7 185% High density
77450Katy 71,90616,474 29 3.6 178% High density
77379Spring 85,19018,372 31 3.3 162% High density
77005Houston 28,87417,091 12 3.2 158% High density
77071Houston 27,0563,660 9 3.1 154% High density
77089Houston 57,7417,127 19 3.1 153% High density
77062Houston 25,5232,879 8 3.0 146% Above average
77018Houston 31,03113,532 11 2.9 143% Above average
77099Houston 50,06416,924 17 2.9 143% Above average
77098Houston 17,21021,612 8 2.9 141% Above average
77083Houston 73,2307,885 22 2.9 140% Above average
77067Houston 30,49110,501 10 2.8 138% Above average
77065Houston 38,92615,180 13 2.8 138% Above average
77051Houston 19,7953,791 6 2.8 136% Above average
77028Houston 19,1095,307 6 2.8 136% Above average
77004Houston 35,9978,467 11 2.7 135% Above average
77339Kingwood 44,53814,810 14 2.7 133% Above average
77074Houston 38,66023,370 13 2.6 127% Above average
77044Houston 58,3478,500 16 2.6 126% Above average
77082Houston 59,41214,405 17 2.6 126% Above average
77338Humble 48,03122,996 15 2.5 124% Above average
77532Crosby 33,7804,148 9 2.5 124% Above average
77095Houston 69,76717,638 19 2.4 119% Above average
77346Humble 79,5389,026 20 2.4 117% Above average
77598Webster 26,11023,542 9 2.4 117% Above average
77014Houston 36,1193,561 9 2.4 117% Above average
77449Katy 130,02827,949 34 2.4 116% Above average
77429Cypress 96,33419,830 25 2.4 116% Above average
77077Houston 60,09824,801 17 2.3 116% Above average
77520Baytown 36,35513,229 10 2.3 115% Above average
77087Houston 34,3479,468 9 2.3 113% Above average
77084Houston 110,21725,157 28 2.3 112% Above average
77016Houston 29,8412,651 7 2.2 111% Above average
77536Deer Park 33,17423,424 10 2.2 110% Above average
77048Houston 21,1512,696 5 2.2 110% Above average
77039Houston 27,8628,261 7 2.2 108% Above average
77033Houston 29,1545,899 7 2.2 107% Above average
77092Houston 36,93828,805 11 2.1 106% Above average
77072Houston 57,10818,771 14 2.1 104% Above average
77088Houston 57,0472,475 12 2.1 101% Above average
77493Katy 71,48412,514 16 2.1 101% Above average
77035Houston 36,0196,007 8 2.1 101% Above average
77571La Porte 38,54331,722 11 2.0 100% Below average
77064Houston 49,59131,388 13 2.0 98% Below average
77008Houston 41,64527,449 11 2.0 98% Below average
77068Houston 13,1894,123 3 2.0 97% Below average
77056Houston 22,87756,519 10 2.0 96% Below average
77503Pasadena 23,86613,968 6 1.9 96% Below average
77433Cypress 116,55024,617 24 1.9 92% Below average
77388Spring 53,42511,272 11 1.9 92% Below average
77502Pasadena 36,3715,461 7 1.8 88% Below average
77377Tomball 41,6807,308 8 1.8 87% Below average
77389Spring 45,70124,787 10 1.7 85% Below average
77022Houston 25,8057,259 5 1.7 84% Below average
77011Houston 14,9405,472 3 1.7 84% Below average
77070Houston 58,22931,546 12 1.6 80% Below average
77373Spring 69,7398,814 12 1.6 80% Below average
77066Houston 39,31110,036 7 1.6 78% Below average
77009Houston 35,7696,348 6 1.5 76% Below average
77047Houston 34,9878,514 6 1.5 75% Below average
77096Houston 35,0328,532 6 1.5 75% Below average
77075Houston 40,62611,440 7 1.5 74% Below average
77036Houston 71,77033,554 13 1.5 72% Below average
77081Houston 50,12914,468 8 1.4 69% Below average
77045Houston 33,5635,319 5 1.4 68% Below average
77055Houston 45,43526,059 8 1.4 67% Below average
77042Houston 38,72141,072 8 1.4 67% Below average
77015Houston 58,41516,742 9 1.3 66% Below average
77375Tomball 72,31120,055 11 1.3 66% Below average
77079Houston 37,27647,984 8 1.3 64% Below average
77401Bellaire 17,21311,816 3 1.3 64% Below average
77038Houston 32,63712,347 5 1.3 63% Below average
77091Houston 28,7284,818 4 1.3 63% Below average
77061Houston 24,00414,494 4 1.3 63% Below average
77073Houston 46,08419,016 7 1.3 62% Below average
77026Houston 21,9815,868 3 1.2 59% Below average
77396Humble 61,73511,110 8 1.2 59% Below average
77002Houston 21,01593,588 8 1.2 58% Below average
77037Houston 19,00412,953 3 1.2 58% Below average
77076Houston 31,2226,981 4 1.2 57% Below average
77017Houston 29,64011,240 4 1.1 56% Below average
77049Houston 40,4188,888 5 1.1 55% Below average
77058Houston 17,85020,626 3 1.1 52% Below average
77506Pasadena 35,1147,276 4 1.0 51% Below average
77007Houston 47,80823,505 6 1.0 50% Far below average
77027Houston 20,31741,087 4 1.0 48% Far below average
77063Houston 42,69017,393 5 1.0 48% Far below average
77505Pasadena 23,17415,733 3 1.0 48% Far below average
77057Houston 46,56931,327 6 1.0 48% Far below average
77006Houston 24,89215,124 3 0.9 46% Far below average
77034Houston 36,45616,153 4 0.9 44% Far below average
77086Houston 28,65310,113 3 0.9 44% Far below average
77093Houston 46,4078,075 4 0.8 39% Far below average
77521Baytown 69,03817,772 6 0.8 38% Far below average
77024Houston 38,28860,736 5 0.7 36% Far below average
77040Houston 50,97740,112 5 0.7 35% Far below average
77043Houston 29,04827,881 3 0.7 34% Far below average
77080Houston 47,6388,890 3 0.6 28% Far below average
77060Houston 45,34023,566 3 0.5 26% Far below average
77041Houston 33,34958,982 3 0.5 24% Far below average
77001Houston —2,821 0–2 — — Not published
77003Houston 10,1646,543 0–2 — — Not published
77010Houston 71817,148 0–2 — — Not published
77012Houston 16,2863,745 0–2 — — Not published
77013Houston 18,2594,287 0–2 — — Not published
77019Houston 23,70819,660 0–2 — — Not published
77020Houston 23,6867,182 0–2 — — Not published
77023Houston 24,28111,147 0–2 — — Not published
77025Houston 29,71510,163 0–2 — — Not published
77029Houston 16,15416,211 0–2 — — Not published
77030Houston 13,380105,516 0–2 — — Not published
77031Houston 15,1794,294 0–2 — — Not published
77032Houston 12,40347,839 0–2 — — Not published
77046Houston 1,79318,455 0–2 — — Not published
77050Houston 6,5661,115 0–2 — — Not published
77052Houston —107 0–2 — — Not published
77054Houston 28,27226,125 0–2 — — Not published
77059Houston 18,7673,734 0–2 — — Not published
77069Houston 20,6086,701 0–2 — — Not published
77078Houston 14,2472,572 0–2 — — Not published
77085Houston 16,5133,262 0–2 — — Not published
77094Houston 10,39514,374 0–2 — — Not published
77201Houston —43 0–2 — — Not published
77204Houston 4,579942 0–2 — — Not published
77205Houston —104 0–2 — — Not published
77206Houston —14 0–2 — — Not published
77207Houston —24 0–2 — — Not published
77208Houston —35 0–2 — — Not published
77210Houston —2,546 0–2 — — Not published
77213Houston —3 0–2 — — Not published
77215Houston —5 0–2 — — Not published
77218Houston —65 0–2 — — Not published
77219Houston —77 0–2 — — Not published
77220Houston —125 0–2 — — Not published
77221Houston —88 0–2 — — Not published
77223Houston —19 0–2 — — Not published
77224Houston —77 0–2 — — Not published
77225Houston —19 0–2 — — Not published
77226Houston —12 0–2 — — Not published
77227Houston —502 0–2 — — Not published
77229Houston —24 0–2 — — Not published
77230Houston —7 0–2 — — Not published
77231Houston —4 0–2 — — Not published
77233Houston —8 0–2 — — Not published
77234Houston —18 0–2 — — Not published
77235Houston —51 0–2 — — Not published
77236Houston —130 0–2 — — Not published
77240Houston —44 0–2 — — Not published
77241Houston —65 0–2 — — Not published
77242Houston —115 0–2 — — Not published
77243Houston —5 0–2 — — Not published
77244Houston —85 0–2 — — Not published
77245Houston —63 0–2 — — Not published
77248Houston —41 0–2 — — Not published
77249Houston —62 0–2 — — Not published
77251Houston —958 0–2 — — Not published
77252Houston —923 0–2 — — Not published
77253Houston —725 0–2 — — Not published
77254Houston —50 0–2 — — Not published
77255Houston —220 0–2 — — Not published
77256Houston —76 0–2 — — Not published
77257Houston —67 0–2 — — Not published
77258Houston —11 0–2 — — Not published
77262Houston —65 0–2 — — Not published
77263Houston —14 0–2 — — Not published
77265Houston —346 0–2 — — Not published
77266Houston —26 0–2 — — Not published
77267Houston —85 0–2 — — Not published
77268Houston —26 0–2 — — Not published
77269Houston —107 0–2 — — Not published
77270Houston —26 0–2 — — Not published
77271Houston —26 0–2 — — Not published
77272Houston —19 0–2 — — Not published
77273Houston —32 0–2 — — Not published
77274Houston —24 0–2 — — Not published
77275Houston —88 0–2 — — Not published
77277Houston —45 0–2 — — Not published
77279Houston —12 0–2 — — Not published
77280Houston —48 0–2 — — Not published
77282Houston —13 0–2 — — Not published
77284Houston —28 0–2 — — Not published
77287Houston —61 0–2 — — Not published
77288Houston —14 0–2 — — Not published
77289Houston —247 0–2 — — Not published
77290Houston —36 0–2 — — Not published
77292Houston —24 0–2 — — Not published
77293Houston —47 0–2 — — Not published
77325Kingwood —88 0–2 — — Not published
77336Huffman 14,3421,093 0–2 — — Not published
77345Kingwood 27,9172,821 0–2 — — Not published
77347Humble —197 0–2 — — Not published
77383Spring —174 0–2 — — Not published
77391Spring —65 0–2 — — Not published
77402Bellaire —78 0–2 — — Not published
77410Cypress —642 0–2 — — Not published
77411Alief —21 0–2 — — Not published
77413Barker —60 0–2 — — Not published
77447Hockley 25,2313,161 0–2 — — Not published
77484Waller 14,34810,823 0–2 — — Not published
77491Katy —14 0–2 — — Not published
77492Katy —264 0–2 — — Not published
77501Pasadena —671 0–2 — — Not published
77507Pasadena 56711,030 0–2 — — Not published
77508Pasadena —76 0–2 — — Not published
77522Baytown —2,116 0–2 — — Not published
77530Channelview 31,52711,576 0–2 — — Not published
77547Galena Park 9,2173,973 0–2 — — Not published
77562Highlands 8,9141,788 0–2 — — Not published
77572La Porte —571 0–2 — — Not published
77586Seabrook 23,8074,640 0–2 — — Not published
77587South Houston 16,0333,391 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Houston

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
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Retail space for lease
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Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Harris County and day care

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 624410 — child day care services. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. This industry has no clean QCEW series, so the freshest county signal is Census County Business Patterns 2023: 1,028 establishments and $422M in annual payroll county-wide. This count includes locations in ZIP codes that do not map to a ZCTA, so it can be slightly higher than the sum of the ZIP rows. CBP is annual and slower than QCEW. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (2.03 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

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.