Groundwork

Child care · Metro area · Maryland

Child care centers and preschools in the Salisbury, MD metro area

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

Groundwork market score · out of 100

Score 49 out of 100: Lower middle

Ranked #205 of 387 scored metro areas
#2 of 4 scored metro areas based in Maryland

Listings
29
1 chain location (3%)
Official establishments
21
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$21.7M
On child care and other personal services · $444 a household
Spending per listing
$747K
25% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
5.9
2% above the U.S.
Population, 2025
131,872
+2.9% since 2020

See the child care centers and preschools around any address in the Salisbury 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 Salisbury metro area. 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 29 child care centers and preschools in the Salisbury metro area. One of them (3%) is a chain location, against 12% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 5.9, 2% above the U.S. rate of 5.8.

At $444 per household (24% below the U.S. average), households in the Salisbury metro area spend about $21.7M a year on child care and other personal services. Spread across 29 child care centers and preschools, that is $747K per center, 25% below the U.S. figure of $1M.

The official count of businesses with payroll classed as child care services in the Salisbury metro area was 21 in 2023. That is one for every 2,325 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S. Official counts also show 157 one-person businesses without payroll.

Population estimates put the population change in the Salisbury metro area from 2020 to 2025 at +2.9%, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). For child care centers and preschools, the Salisbury metro area has a Groundwork market score of 49 (lower middle): #205 of 387 scored metro areas and #2 of 4 scored metro areas based in Maryland.

How the Salisbury metro area compares

The same measures for Maryland 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 Salisbury, MD metro area compared with Maryland and the U.S.
MeasureSalisbury metro areaMarylandU.S.
Listings per 10k households5.97.15.8
Spending per listing$747K$924K$1M
Households per official establishment2,3251,5701,573
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−2.5%+5.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025+2.9%+1.4%+3.1%
Spending per household on child care and other personal services$444$656$581
Median household income$73,802$103,678$80,734
Groundwork market score4952

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
21
Employees, 2023
324
Annual payroll, 2023
$9.4M
One-person businesses, 2023
157Businesses with no payroll
Map listings, September 2026
291 chain location
Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
22The 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 Salisbury 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 Salisbury metro area

Population, 2025 estimate
131,872+2.9% since 2020
Households
48,818
Median age
37.6
Homes lived in by their owners
64%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
694 sq. mi.
People per square mile
187
Median household income
$73,802
Average household income
$94,881
Median home value
$241,200
Jobs located here
49,837
Daytime population
123,772Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Salisbury 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 Salisbury metro area. 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 Maryland

Every Maryland market ranked →

The highest-scoring metro areas in Maryland for child care centers and preschools, numbered among those based in Maryland (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Salisbury metro area marked.

Top metro areas in Maryland

Metro areas in Maryland ranked for child care centers and preschools by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV67524.4$1M+7.1%#74 of 387
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV581,8047.6$1M+3.3%#138 of 387
2Salisbury, MD49295.9$747K+2.9%#205 of 387
3Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD477927.1$897K+0.4%#219 of 387
4Lexington Park, MD47689.0$844K+2.1%#220 of 387
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD431,9397.9$873K+1.4%#249 of 387

Other business types in the Salisbury 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 Salisbury, MD metro area?

The Salisbury metro area has 29 child care centers and preschools on map listings as of September 2026. One of them (3%) is a chain location. The listings count day care centers and preschools. Official counts show 21 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in 2023. Another 157 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.

How much do households in the Salisbury, MD metro area spend on child care and other personal services?

About $21.7M a year, or $444 per household. That is 24% below the U.S. average (an index of 76, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 29 child care centers and preschools on map listings, it comes to $747K per center. It is estimated from the incomes of the 48,818 households in the Salisbury metro area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Salisbury, MD metro area compare with the U.S. for child care centers and preschools?

The Salisbury metro area has 5.9 child care centers and preschools per 10,000 households, 2% above the U.S. rate of 5.8. Spending per center is $747K, 25% below the U.S. figure of $1M. At the national ratio of child care centers and preschools to household spending, the Salisbury metro area would have about 22, against 29 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,325 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S.

How fast is the Salisbury, MD metro area growing?

Population estimates put the Salisbury metro area at 131,872 people in 2025, up 2.9% since 2020, in step with the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 48,818 households. The median household income in the Salisbury metro area is $73,802 a year, 9% below 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 Salisbury metro area scores 49 for child care centers and preschools (lower middle), #205 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 Salisbury 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 Salisbury metro area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Salisbury 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 Salisbury 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.