Groundwork

Child care · County · Kentucky

Child care centers and preschools in Knox County, KY

How Knox County, KY compares with other counties and the U.S. for child care centers and preschools: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.

Groundwork market score

Not scored

The score needs at least 5 listings; this market has 4.

Listings
4
0 chain locations (0%)
Official establishments
15
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$3.2M
On child care and other personal services · $273 a household
Spending per listing
$799K
20% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
3.4
41% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
29,532
−2.2% since 2020

See the child care centers and preschools around any address in Knox County

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 Knox County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

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

What this means

As of September 2026, map listings count 4 child care centers and preschools in Knox County. That is 3.4 per 10,000 households, 41% below the U.S. rate of 5.8.

At $273 per household (53% below the U.S. average), households in Knox County spend about $3.2M a year on child care and other personal services. That is about $799K of household spending for each center on map listings, 20% below the U.S. figure of $1M.

In 2023, official counts showed 15 businesses with payroll in Knox County classed as child care services. That is one for every 781 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S. Official counts also show 57 one-person businesses without payroll.

Population estimates put the population change in Knox County from 2020 to 2025 at −2.2%, against +3.1% for the U.S. With 4 child care centers and preschools on map listings, Knox County isn’t given a market score: the score needs at least 5, since one listing more or less would swing it.

How Knox County 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.

Child care and preschools in Knox County, KY compared with Kentucky and the U.S.
MeasureKnox CountyKentuckyU.S.
Listings per 10k households3.44.85.8
Spending per listing$799K$849K$1M
Households per official establishment7811,9621,573
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a+3.6%+5.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025−2.2%+2.2%+3.1%
Spending per household on child care and other personal services$273$405$581
Median household income$32,527$63,726$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored49

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
11 → 15
Employees, 2023
143
Annual payroll, 2023
$3.4M
One-person businesses, 2023
57Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
40 chain locations
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
3The 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 Knox County, 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 Knox County

Population, 2025 estimate
29,532−2.2% since 2020
Households
11,711
Median age
40.6
Homes lived in by their owners
65%
Vehicles per household
1.7
Land area
386 sq. mi.
People per square mile
77
Median household income
$32,527+7.8% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$50,707
Median home value
$118,700
Jobs located here
8,810
Daytime population
28,691Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in Knox County?

These figures cover the whole county. 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 Knox County. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.

Free10 actions over 3 days, no card

Child care and preschools across Kentucky

Every Kentucky market ranked →

The highest-scoring counties in Kentucky for child care centers and preschools, numbered among those based in Kentucky, with Knox County marked.

Top counties in Kentucky

Counties in Kentucky ranked for child care centers and preschools by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Oldham County, KY82104.3$1.7M+4.9%#61 of 1,611
2Shelby County, KY7884.3$1.1M+6.2%#123 of 1,611
3Scott County, KY7494.0$1.3M+8.2%#175 of 1,611
4Bullitt County, KY71123.8$1.2M+5.0%#233 of 1,611
5Jessamine County, KY6284.0$1.1M+7.8%#482 of 1,611
6Warren County, KY62274.9$827K+10.6%#493 of 1,611
7Pike County, KY5952.1$1.5M−6.4%#562 of 1,611
8Nelson County, KY58115.7$690K+4.8%#617 of 1,611
9Hardin County, KY57194.3$972K+2.4%#629 of 1,611
10Kenton County, KY57365.3$940K+3.9%#632 of 1,611
Knox County, KYNot scored43.4$799K−2.2%

Other business types in Knox County

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

Questions

How many child care centers and preschools are in Knox County, KY?

Knox County has 4 child care centers and preschools on map listings as of September 2026. The listings count day care centers and preschools. Official counts show 15 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in 2023. Another 57 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in Knox County, KY spend on child care and other personal services?

About $3.2M a year, or $273 per household. That is 53% below the U.S. average (an index of 47, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 4 child care centers and preschools on map listings, it comes to $799K per center. It is estimated from the incomes of the 11,711 households in Knox County and national spending patterns by income.

How does Knox County, KY compare with the U.S. for child care centers and preschools?

Knox County has 3.4 child care centers and preschools per 10,000 households, 41% below the U.S. rate of 5.8. Spending per center is $799K, 20% below the U.S. figure of $1M. At the national ratio of child care centers and preschools to household spending, Knox County would have about 3, against 4 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 781 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S.

How fast is Knox County, KY growing?

Population estimates put Knox County at 29,532 people in 2025, down 2.2% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 11,711 households. The median household income in Knox County is $32,527 a year, 60% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 7.8% 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. Knox County has no market score for child care centers and preschools: the score needs at least 5 on map listings, and it has 4.

How can I see the market around a specific site?

Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Knox County. 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 Knox County

Screening a site or an acquisition in Knox County?

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 Knox County. 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.