Child care · County · Virginia
Child care centers and preschools in Essex County, VA
How Essex County, VA 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 1.
- Listings
- 1
- 0 chain locations (0%)
- Official establishments
- 3
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $1.6M
- On child care and other personal services · $366 a household
- Spending per listing
- $1.6M
- Too few listings to compare
- Listings per 10k households
- 2.2
- Too few listings to compare
- Population, 2025
- 10,654
- +0.5% since 2020
See the child care centers and preschools around any address in Essex 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 Essex County. 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
Households in Essex County spend about $1.6M a year on child care and other personal services, or $366 per household, 37% below the U.S. average. That is about $1.6M of household spending for each center on map listings.
Essex County has 1 child care center or preschool on map listings as of September 2026. That is 2.2 per 10,000 households.
In 2023, official counts showed 3 businesses with payroll in Essex County classed as child care services. That is one for every 1,482 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S. Official counts also show 12 one-person businesses without payroll.
Population estimates show Essex County grew 0.5% from 2020 to 2025, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). With 1 child care center or preschool on map listings, Essex County isn’t given a market score: the score needs at least 5, since one listing more or less would swing it.
How Essex County compares
The same measures for Virginia 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 | Essex County | Virginia | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 2.2 | 5.9 | 5.8 |
| Spending per listing | $1.6M | $1M | $1M |
| Households per official establishment | 1,482 | 1,702 | 1,573 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +0.4% | +5.7% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +0.5% | +2.8% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on child care and other personal services | $366 | $602 | $581 |
| Median household income | $56,520 | $93,170 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | Not scored | 62 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 3
- Employees, 2023
- 25
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $483K
- One-person businesses, 2023
- 12Businesses with no payroll
- Map listings, September 2026
- 10 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 2The 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 Essex 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 Essex County
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 10,654+0.5% since 2020
- Households
- 4,447
- Median age
- 48.1
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 72%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 257 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 41
- Median household income
- $56,520+8.8% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $81,300
- Median home value
- $238,100
- Jobs located here
- 3,291
- Daytime population
- 8,320Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in Essex 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 Essex County. 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 Virginia
Every Virginia market ranked →The highest-scoring counties in Virginia for child care centers and preschools, numbered among those based in Virginia, with Essex County marked.
Top counties in Virginia
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Spending per listing | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Frederick County, VA | 93 | 12 | 3.4 | $1.7M | +8.8% | #4 of 1,611 |
| 2Culpeper County, VA | 91 | 7 | 3.7 | $1.5M | +9.3% | #12 of 1,611 |
| 3Louisa County, VA | 87 | 5 | 3.2 | $1.6M | +13.6% | #25 of 1,611 |
| 4Suffolk city, VA | 86 | 15 | 4.0 | $1.4M | +10.4% | #34 of 1,611 |
| 5Bedford County, VA | 85 | 5 | 1.5 | $3.1M | +4.4% | #36 of 1,611 |
| 6Orange County, VA | 85 | 7 | 4.7 | $1.2M | +10.1% | #42 of 1,611 |
| 7Fauquier County, VA | 82 | 15 | 5.6 | $1.4M | +4.8% | #64 of 1,611 |
| 8James City County, VA | 78 | 15 | 4.7 | $1.4M | +6.2% | #114 of 1,611 |
| 9Richmond city, VA | 78 | 41 | 3.9 | $1.1M | +4.6% | #120 of 1,611 |
| 10Franklin County, VA | 77 | 6 | 2.6 | $1.6M | +1.9% | #127 of 1,611 |
| Essex County, VA | Not scored | 1 | 2.2 | $1.6M | +0.5% |
Other business types in Essex County
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 preschools
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
Funeral services
Questions
How many child care centers and preschools are in Essex County, VA?
Map listings as of September 2026 show 1 child care center or preschool in Essex County. The listings count day care centers and preschools. Official counts show 3 businesses with payroll classed as child care services in 2023. Another 12 one-person businesses have no payroll, by official counts.
How much do households in Essex County, VA spend on child care and other personal services?
About $1.6M a year, or $366 per household. That is 37% below the U.S. average (an index of 63, where 100 is the U.S. average). Spread across the 1 child care center or preschool on map listings, it comes to $1.6M per center. It is estimated from the incomes of the 4,447 households in Essex County and national spending patterns by income.
How does Essex County, VA compare with the U.S. for child care centers and preschools?
Essex County has 1 child care center or preschool on map listings, too few for a steady comparison with the U.S. rate. At the U.S. ratio of child care centers and preschools to household spending, Essex County would have about 2, against 1 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 1,482 households, against one for every 1,573 across the U.S.
How fast is Essex County, VA growing?
Population estimates put Essex County at 10,654 people in 2025, up 0.5% since 2020, slower than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 4,447 households. Median household income in Essex County is $56,520, 30% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 8.8%, 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. Essex County has no market score for child care centers and preschools: the score needs at least 5 on map listings, and it has 1.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in Essex 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 Essex County
Screening a site or an acquisition in Essex 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 Essex 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.