Child care · Metro area · Kentucky
Child care centers and preschools in the Bowling Green, KY metro area
The child care centers and preschools in the Bowling Green, KY metro area, the household spending behind them and how the market ranks against other metro areas.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 57 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #149 of 387 scored metro areas
#1 of 6 scored metro areas based in Kentucky
- Listings
- 32
- 3 chain locations (9%)
- Official establishments
- 31
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $27.9M
- On child care and other personal services · $380 a household
- Spending per listing
- $871K
- 13% below the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 4.4
- 24% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 197,180
- +9.5% since 2020
See the child care centers and preschools around any address in the Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
Map listings as of September 2026 show 32 child care centers and preschools in the Bowling Green metro area. Chain locations make up 9% of them, against 12% across the U.S. That is 4.4 per 10,000 households, 24% below the U.S. rate of 5.8.
Households in the Bowling Green metro area spend about $27.9M a year on child care and other personal services, or $380 per household, 35% below the U.S. average. Spread across 32 child care centers and preschools, that is $871K per center, 13% below the U.S. figure of $1M.
Official counts show 31 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in the Bowling Green metro area in 2023. That is one for every 2,366 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S. Official counts also show 234 one-person businesses without payroll.
Population estimates show the Bowling Green metro area grew 9.5% from 2020 to 2025, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). The Bowling Green metro area scores 57 (upper middle) on the Groundwork market score for child care centers and preschools, ranking #149 of 387 scored metro areas and #1 of 6 scored metro areas based in Kentucky.
How the Bowling Green metro area compares
The same measures for Kentucky 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.
| Measure | Bowling Green metro area | Kentucky | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 4.4 | 4.8 | 5.8 |
| Spending per listing | $871K | $849K | $1M |
| Households per official establishment | 2,366 | 1,962 | 1,573 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +3.6% | +5.7% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +9.5% | +2.2% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on child care and other personal services | $380 | $405 | $581 |
| Median household income | $63,328 | $63,726 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 57 | 49 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 31
- Employees, 2023
- 443
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $9.1M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 234Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 323 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 28The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 0
- Amount
- $0
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as child care services in the Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 197,180+9.5% since 2020
- Households
- 73,344
- Median age
- 36.9
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 61%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 1,614 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 116
- Median household income
- $63,328+27.4% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $85,606
- Median home value
- $233,700
- Jobs located here
- 78,351
- Daytime population
- 187,870Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardChild care and preschools across Kentucky
Every Kentucky market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in Kentucky for child care centers and preschools, numbered among those based in Kentucky (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Bowling Green metro area marked.
Top metro areas in Kentucky
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Bowling Green, KY | 57 | 32 | 4.4 | $871K | +9.5% | #149 of 387 |
| Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | 53 | 49 | 3.2 | $1.2M | −2.6% | #174 of 387 |
| 2Lexington-Fayette, KY | 52 | 107 | 4.9 | $939K | +3.4% | #183 of 387 |
| 3Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | 46 | 306 | 5.5 | $820K | +2.9% | #228 of 387 |
| 4Elizabethtown, KY | 40 | 24 | 4.7 | $858K | +2.4% | #263 of 387 |
| 5Owensboro, KY | 40 | 26 | 5.7 | $701K | +1.3% | #269 of 387 |
| Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | 39 | 546 | 6.0 | $787K | +2.7% | #272 of 387 |
| Clarksville, TN-KY | 34 | 78 | 6.2 | $626K | +8.5% | #305 of 387 |
| 6Paducah, KY-IL | 29 | 24 | 5.8 | $683K | −1.2% | #336 of 387 |
Other business types in the Bowling Green metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
- Child care and preschools57
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many child care centers and preschools are in the Bowling Green, KY metro area?
There are 32 child care centers and preschools on map listings in the Bowling Green metro area as of September 2026. 3 of them (9%) are chain locations. The listings count day care centers and preschools. Official counts show 31 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in 2023. Another 234 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in the Bowling Green, KY metro area spend on child care and other personal services?
About $27.9M a year, or $380 per household. That is 35% below the U.S. average (an index of 65, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 32 child care centers and preschools on map listings, it comes to $871K per center. It is estimated from the incomes of the 73,344 households in the Bowling Green metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Bowling Green, KY metro area compare with the U.S. for child care centers and preschools?
The Bowling Green metro area has 4.4 child care centers and preschools per 10,000 households, 24% below the U.S. rate of 5.8. Spending per center is $871K, 13% below the U.S. figure of $1M. At the national ratio of child care centers and preschools to household spending, the Bowling Green metro area would have about 28, against 32 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,366 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S.
How fast is the Bowling Green, KY metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Bowling Green metro area at 197,180 people in 2025, up 9.5% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 73,344 households. The median household income in the Bowling Green metro area is $63,328 a year, 22% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 27.4% from the 2015–2019 survey, before inflation.
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 Bowling Green metro area scores 57 for child care centers and preschools (upper middle), #149 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 Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Bowling Green 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 Bowling Green 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.