Groundwork

Child care · Metro area · Connecticut

Child care centers and preschools in the New Haven, CT metro area

Competitor counts, household spending and official business counts for child care centers and preschools in the New Haven, CT metro area, set against other metro areas and the U.S.

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 51 out of 100: Upper middle

Ranked #188 of 387 scored metro areas
#5 of 5 scored metro areas based in Connecticut

Listings
173
13 chain locations (8%)
Official establishments
155
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$156.8M
On child care and other personal services · $680 a household
Spending per listing
$906K
10% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
7.5
29% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
578,741
+2.5% since 2020

See the child care centers and preschools around any address in the New Haven metro area

The site report maps the child care centers and preschools on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the New Haven metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Survey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure

What this means

Households in the New Haven metro area spend about $156.8M a year on child care and other personal services, or $680 per household, 17% above the U.S. average. That works out to $906K per center, 10% below the U.S. figure of $1M.

The New Haven metro area has 173 child care centers and preschools on map listings as of September 2026. Chain locations make up 8% of them, against 12% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 7.5, 29% above the U.S. rate of 5.8.

Official counts show 155 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in the New Haven metro area in 2023. That is one for every 1,488 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S. Official counts also show 974 one-person businesses without payroll. Since fiscal 2022, 3 SBA-backed loans worth $1.8M have gone to businesses classed as child care services in the New Haven metro area.

Population estimates put the population change in the New Haven metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +2.5%, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). The New Haven metro area scores 51 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for child care centers and preschools, ranking #188 of 387 scored metro areas and #5 of 5 scored metro areas based in Connecticut.

How the New Haven metro area compares

The same measures for Connecticut and the whole U.S. Spending per listing divides a year of household spending on all child care and other personal services by the child care centers and preschools counted, so it measures the demand for each competitor, not any business’s revenue. Households per establishment does the same with the official count.

Child care and preschools in New Haven, CT metro area compared with Connecticut and the U.S.
MeasureNew Haven metro areaConnecticutU.S.
Listings per 10k households7.57.65.8
Spending per listing$906K$968K$1M
Households per official establishment1,4881,5131,573
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+4.6%+5.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.5%+3.0%+3.1%
Spending per household on child care and other personal services$680$735$581
Median household income$88,197$95,781$80,734
Groundwork market score5161

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
155
Employees, 2023
2,495
Annual payroll, 2023
$80.1M
One-person businesses, 2023
974Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
17313 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
157The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here

SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022

Loans
3
Amount
$1.8M

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as child care services in the New Haven metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.

Population and households in the New Haven metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
578,741+2.5% since 2020
Households
230,673
Median age
41.7
Homes lived in by their owners
61%
Vehicles per household
1.6
Land area
367 sq. mi.
People per square mile
1,554
Median household income
$88,197
Average household income
$121,518
Median home value
$353,100
Jobs located here
298,580
Daytime population
597,614Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the New Haven metro area?

These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the child care centers and preschools on map listings by name and distance.

Or open the report at the center of the New Haven metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

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Child care and preschools across Connecticut

Every Connecticut market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Connecticut for child care centers and preschools, numbered among those based in Connecticut, with the New Haven metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Connecticut

Metro areas in Connecticut ranked for child care centers and preschools by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT69625.4$1.2M+2.0%#59 of 387
2Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT593457.4$967K+3.0%#128 of 387
3Waterbury-Shelton, CT551246.9$944K+3.2%#166 of 387
4Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT543379.5$938K+3.7%#172 of 387
5New Haven, CT511737.5$906K+2.5%#188 of 387

Other business types in the New Haven metro area

Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.

Questions

How many child care centers and preschools are in the New Haven, CT metro area?

Map listings as of September 2026 show 173 child care centers and preschools in the New Haven metro area. 13 of them (8%) are chain locations. The listings count day care centers and preschools. Official counts show 155 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in 2023. Another 974 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the New Haven, CT metro area spend on child care and other personal services?

About $156.8M a year, or $680 per household. That is 17% above the U.S. average (an index of 117, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 173 child care centers and preschools on map listings, it comes to $906K per center. It is estimated from the incomes of the 230,673 households in the New Haven metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the New Haven, CT metro area compare with the U.S. for child care centers and preschools?

The New Haven metro area has 7.5 child care centers and preschools per 10,000 households, 29% above the U.S. rate of 5.8. Spending per center is $906K, 10% below the U.S. figure of $1M. At the U.S. ratio of child care centers and preschools to household spending, the New Haven metro area would have about 157, against 173 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,488 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S.

How fast is the New Haven, CT metro area growing?

Population estimates put the New Haven metro area at 578,741 people in 2025, up 2.5% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 230,673 households. Median household income in the New Haven metro area is $88,197, 9% above the U.S. median of $80,734.

What is the Groundwork market score?

The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The New Haven metro area scores 51 for child care centers and preschools (upper middle), #188 of 387 scored metro areas.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the New Haven metro area. It maps the child care centers and preschools on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.

How the score works · Top markets for child care centers and preschools · All 56 business types in the New Haven metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the New Haven metro area?

A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.

The button opens the report at the center of the New Haven metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.