zReports Research Institute · Updated September 2026
Colorado has 4,508 active licensed daycares on the state's public file. zReports analyzed state child care licensing and enforcement records to produce a records layer grade for every one, the government's own verdicts, mapped through one fixed rule. No facility can pay to change a score, and the grade is free.
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Active licensed daycares | 4,508 |
| Cities covered | 321 |
| Statewide average records layer score | 94.2 |
| Grade A facilities | 4,508 (100%) |
| Facilities with a clean record (no deficiencies on file) | 4,508 (100%) |
| Serious (high severity) findings on the record | 0 |
| Moderate findings on the record | 0 |
| Combined licensed capacity | 263,740 |
| Child Care Center | 1,646 |
| School-Age Child Care Center | 949 |
| Large Family Child Care Home | 509 |
| Preschool Program | 492 |
Average records layer score by city (cities with 10+ facilities), against the statewide average of 94.2.
| City | Facilities | Avg score | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle | 12 | 95.3 | +1.1 |
| Carbondale | 13 | 95.2 | +1 |
| Avon | 11 | 95.2 | +1 |
| Montrose | 20 | 95.2 | +1 |
| Telluride | 10 | 95 | +0.8 |
| Eagle | 12 | 95 | +0.8 |
| Monte Vista | 10 | 95 | +0.8 |
| Cortez | 10 | 95 | +0.8 |
| Estes Park | 15 | 93.3 | -0.9 |
#1 Lincoln Early Childhood Loveland · A
#2 Fox Hollow Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#3 Blue Sky Kids, INC. Dba The Goddard School Littleton · A
#4 Polton Elementary School Aurora · A
#5 Arrowhead Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#6 Red Hawk Ridge Preschool Centennial · A
#7 Aspen Crossing Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#8 Eastridge Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#9 Creekside Elementary Preschool Centennial · A
#10 Indian Ridge Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#11 Thompson R2j - Coyote Ridge Fort Collins · A
#12 Outback Ece Aurora · A
#13 Sunrise Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#14 Summit Preschool Aurora · A
#15 Ponderosa Early Childhood Center Loveland · A
#16 Cottonwood Plains Early Learning Childhood Fort Collins · A
#17 Berthoud Elementary Ec Berthoud · A
#18 Black Forest Hills Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#19 Winona Early Childhood Loveland · A
#20 Centennial Early Childhood Loveland · A
#21 Mission Viejo Preschool Aurora · A
#22 Sagebrush Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#23 Altitude Elementary Preschool Aurora · A
#24 The Journey Preschool Aurora · A
#25 Stansberry Early Childhood Center Loveland · A
Don't see a name? Search it. Every daycare has an answer.
The free grade on this page contains zero zReports judgment: it maps the state's own published licensing and enforcement verdicts through one fixed rule, applied identically to every daycare in America. Where the record and public reputation diverge, a highly reviewed facility with serious findings on file, the paid Consumer Intelligence Report™ surfaces it through the composite Consumer Z Score™ and our published ten point methodology. Facilities are never contacted and cannot pay to change a score. Read the full methodology →
Licensed child care in Colorado is regulated by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, which licenses providers, conducts inspections, investigates complaints, and publishes enforcement actions on the public record. Those state filed records, not reviews, are what this page is computed from. One precision note: some programs are legally exempt from licensing in many states (certain school- or church-operated programs, and small home settings under the state’s size threshold) and therefore do not appear on the licensed register at all. This page covers every provider on Colorado’s public licensing file.
Colorado has 4,508 active licensed daycares on the state's public file, across 321 cities, with a combined licensed capacity of 263,740. Every one has a free records layer grade on zReports.
Denver, with 482 licensed daycares, followed by Colorado Springs (450) and Aurora (320).
The free records layer grade contains zero zReports judgment. It maps the government's own published verdicts, state child care licensing and enforcement records, through one fixed rule, applied identically to every daycare in the country. The paid Consumer Intelligence Report™ adds the composite Consumer Z Score™, which audits the record against public reputation through our published ten point methodology.
Reviews and records are different surfaces. Reviews reflect what visitors chose to write, and can be managed by the business. Inspection and enforcement records are filed by the state, are mandatory, and cannot be edited by the facility. When the two diverge, the record is the surface worth checking. That divergence is exactly what zReports was built to surface.
Rankings refresh whenever Colorado republishes its licensing data; facility pages carry the records-verified date for each provider. This page was generated from the current file as of September 2026.
No. Facilities are never contacted, never notified, and cannot pay to be listed, delisted, or re-scored. zReports has no business relationship with any facility it grades, independence is the product.
This report was generated from the zReports Consumer Records Database™, a continuously updated database that normalizes official government licensing, inspection, enforcement, ownership, and safety records across multiple federal and state agencies. Every statistic in this report is traceable to its originating public record. Facilities cannot pay to alter scores, rankings, or findings.
Data source: zReports Consumer Intelligence Database™ v2026.09 · Built from: Colorado child care licensing, inspection & enforcement records · Public consumer review signals (audited, never trusted, in the composite Consumer Z Score™) · Proprietary Consumer Z Score™ methodology · Updated: September 2026
APA, zReports Research Institute. (2026). Colorado Licensed Child Care Rankings & Safety Report (v2026.09). zReports.org. https://zreports.org/rankings/daycare/co
MLA, zReports Research Institute. “Colorado Licensed Child Care Rankings & Safety Report.” zReports.org, v2026.09, September 2026, zreports.org/rankings/daycare/co.
Plain, Colorado Licensed Child Care Rankings & Safety Report, zReports Research Institute, v2026.09, updated September 2026, zreports.org/rankings/daycare/co