Child Day Care Services — profit margin & cost structure (U.S.)

For the U.S. child day care services industry, IRS tax data shows an estimated 36.7% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). That figure — what a self-employed owner keeps per sales dollar before paying themselves — is the number this page exists to report; read the note below on how it's measured.

36.7%net margin · owner-operator basis

National as of tax year 2023 Lower confidence source ↗

Owner-operator basis (IRS SOI sole proprietorships, TY2023): net income less deficit ÷ business receipts. Measured at NAICS 624 — Social Assistance (day care + individual/family/emergency services); home-based day-care proprietors dominate. Owner's own labor is not expensed, which inflates this figure.

Cost structure

National, from IRS Statistics of Income (weighted sample). Where a component is not separately reported, it is shown as insufficient data — never estimated.

Component	Value
Cost of goods sold (% of receipts)	2.0%	National source ↗
Labor / officer compensation (% of receipts)	9.9%	National source ↗

2019–2023 trend (national)

Change in the number of child day care services establishments and employment, nationally, from Census County Business Patterns.

Metric	2019	2023	Change
Establishments	77,713	82,162	+5.7%
Employment	1,001,811	1,045,052	+4.3%

Business size distribution (national)

Share of U.S. child day care services establishments by number of employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023). 36% have fewer than 5 employees.

1–4 emp29,830 (36%)

5–9 emp15,333 (19%)

10–19 emp19,719 (24%)

20–49 emp15,464 (19%)

50–99 emp1,443 (2%)

100+ emp373 (0%)

Where this industry operates — all 51 states

Establishment counts, employment, and wages are available for free elsewhere too (e.g. Data USA). States ordered by number of establishments — pick one for local context:

Full cost-structure breakdown by business-size class and side-by-side industry comparison are available to subscribers. This page shows the current-year national headline plus the multi-year establishment trend.

Frequently asked

What is the average profit margin for child day care services businesses?

About 36.7% net margin on an owner-operator basis (national, IRS SOI sole proprietorships, tax year 2023). This counts the owner's own labor as profit, so it overstates corporate-style margin — see the note above.

How many child day care services businesses are there in the U.S.?

82,162 establishments with paid employees (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

What is the average wage in the child day care services industry?

$627 per week (BLS QCEW 2024, private sector) — about $32,604/year.

Is the child day care services industry growing?

The number of U.S. child day care services establishments changed +5.7% from 2019 to 2023 (77,713 → 82,162), per Census CBP.

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machine-readable JSON · NAICS 624410

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