Groundwork

Child care · Small-town market · Missouri

Child care centers and preschools in the Mexico, MO area

How the Mexico, MO area compares with other small-town markets 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
4
Businesses with payroll, 2023
Household spending a year
$2.8M
On child care and other personal services · $307 a household
Spending per listing
$709K
29% below the U.S.
Listings per 10k households
4.3
26% below the U.S.
Population, 2025
24,528
−1.0% since 2020

See the child care centers and preschools around any address in the Mexico 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 Mexico 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

Map listings as of September 2026 show 4 child care centers and preschools in the Mexico area. That comes to 4.3 for every 10,000 households, 26% below the U.S. rate of 5.8.

Household spending on child care and other personal services in the Mexico area comes to about $2.8M a year: $307 per household, 47% below the U.S. average. Spread across 4 child care centers and preschools, that is $709K per center, 29% below the U.S. figure of $1M.

In 2023, official counts showed 4 businesses with payroll in the Mexico area classed as child care services. That is one for every 2,305 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S. Another 41 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $95K have gone to businesses classed as child care services in the Mexico area.

Population estimates show the Mexico area declined 1.0% from 2020 to 2025, against +3.1% for the U.S. With 4 child care centers and preschools on map listings, the Mexico area isn’t given a market score: the score needs at least 5, since one listing more or less would swing it.

How the Mexico area compares

The same measures for Missouri 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 Mexico, MO area compared with Missouri and the U.S.
MeasureMexico areaMissouriU.S.
Listings per 10k households4.35.95.8
Spending per listing$709K$679K$1M
Households per official establishment2,3051,7141,573
Official establishment growth, 2019–2023n/a−2.2%+5.7%
Population growth, 2020–2025−1.0%+1.9%+3.1%
Spending per household on child care and other personal services$307$399$581
Median household income$59,448$70,702$80,734
Groundwork market scoreNot scored29

Official counts and lending

Businesses

Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
4
Employees, 2023
32
Annual payroll, 2023
$1.1M
One-person businesses, 2023
41Businesses 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
2
Amount
$95K

SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as child care services in the Mexico 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 Mexico area

Population, 2025 estimate
24,528−1.0% since 2020
Households
9,219
Median age
40.1
Homes lived in by their owners
72%
Vehicles per household
1.9
Land area
692 sq. mi.
People per square mile
35
Median household income
$59,448+34.3% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
Average household income
$71,893
Median home value
$143,100
Jobs located here
8,235
Daytime population
22,988Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here

Looking at a specific site in the Mexico area?

These figures cover the whole small-town market. 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 Mexico 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 Missouri

Every Missouri market ranked →

The highest-scoring small-town markets in Missouri for child care centers and preschools, numbered among those based in Missouri (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Mexico area marked.

Top small-town markets in Missouri

Small-town markets in Missouri ranked for child care centers and preschools by Groundwork market score
MarketScoreListingsPer 10k householdsSpending per listingPopulation growthU.S. rank
1Branson, MO6573.1$1M+1.7%#114 of 454
2Kirksville, MO5265.8$585K+1.9%#220 of 454
3Lebanon, MO4874.8$576K+2.5%#250 of 454
4Rolla, MO4695.2$626K+1.6%#270 of 454
Quincy, IL-MO46185.8$601K−2.0%#271 of 454
5Sedalia, MO4184.7$656K+2.9%#308 of 454
6Warrensburg, MO36146.6$500K+4.9%#348 of 454
7Fort Leonard Wood, MO3495.3$599K+0.8%#357 of 454
8Hannibal, MO29106.5$493K+0.4%#389 of 454
9West Plains, MO26106.3$456K+2.5%#402 of 454
Mexico, MONot scored44.3$709K−1.0%

Other business types in the Mexico 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 Mexico, MO area?

There are 4 child care centers and preschools on map listings in the Mexico area as of September 2026. The listings count day care centers and preschools. Official counts show 4 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in 2023. Official counts list 41 one-person businesses without payroll.

How much do households in the Mexico, MO area spend on child care and other personal services?

About $2.8M a year, or $307 per household. That is 47% below the U.S. average (an index of 53, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 4 child care centers and preschools on map listings, it comes to $709K per center. It is estimated from the incomes of the 9,219 households in the Mexico area and national spending patterns by income.

How does the Mexico, MO area compare with the U.S. for child care centers and preschools?

The Mexico area has 4.3 child care centers and preschools per 10,000 households, 26% below the U.S. rate of 5.8. Spending per center is $709K, 29% below the U.S. figure of $1M. At the national ratio of child care centers and preschools to household spending, the Mexico area would have about 3, against 4 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 2,305 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S.

How fast is the Mexico, MO area growing?

Population estimates put the Mexico area at 24,528 people in 2025, down 1.0% since 2020, against +3.1% for the U.S. It has 9,219 households. The median household income in the Mexico area is $59,448 a year, 26% below the U.S. median of $80,734. That rose 34.3% 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. A small-town market is a town of 10,000 to 50,000 people and the county or counties tied to it by commuting. 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 Mexico area 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 the Mexico 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 Mexico area

Screening a site or an acquisition in the Mexico 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 Mexico 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.