zReports Research Institute · Updated September 2026
Washington has 2,502 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 | 2,502 |
| Cities covered | 248 |
| Statewide average records layer score | 98.4 |
| Grade A facilities | 2,502 (100%) |
| Facilities with a clean record (no deficiencies on file) | 2,502 (100%) |
| Serious (high severity) findings on the record | 0 |
| Moderate findings on the record | 0 |
| Combined licensed capacity | 176,619 |
| Child Care Center | 1,839 |
| School-Age Program | 635 |
| Outdoor Nature Based Program | 28 |
Average records layer score by city (cities with 10+ facilities), against the statewide average of 98.4.
| City | Facilities | Avg score | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountlake Terrace | 10 | 99 | +0.6 |
| Mercer Island | 12 | 99 | +0.6 |
| Centralia | 10 | 99 | +0.6 |
| Tumwater | 10 | 99 | +0.6 |
| Walla Walla | 15 | 98.9 | +0.5 |
| Federal Way | 40 | 98.8 | +0.4 |
| Mukilteo | 10 | 98.8 | +0.4 |
| Bothell | 36 | 98.8 | +0.4 |
| Maple Valley | 12 | 96.2 | -2.2 |
#1 Seattle Amistad School Seattle · A
#2 Lewis County Head Start Toledo · A
#3 White River Children'S Academy Enumclaw · A
#4 Positive Ally - Issaquah Issaquah · A
#5 Island Christian Academy Preschool And Daycare Langley · A
#6 Opportunity Council Org Bellingham · A
#7 Kidzone Learning Center IV Puyallup · A
#8 Just Like Home Daycare Center Of Lakewood 4 Lakewood · A
#9 Marysville Kids N US Marysville · A
#10 Lewis County Adventist School Chehalis · A
#11 Mi EsqüElita Pasco · A
#12 Mission Church Daycare/Learning Center Federal Way · A
#13 Circle Time Renton · A
#14 Early Learning Center Spokane · A
#15 Concerned Citizens Pnw Forks · A
#16 Collaboration Station Seattle · A
#17 Enchanted Little Forest Snohomish Snohomish · A
#18 Childrens Character Club Milton · A
#19 Ages In Stages Childcare Of Kent Kent · A
#20 St. Paul Early Learning Center Seattle · A
#21 Josie'S Learning Center Stanwood · A
#22 Joyful Noise Early Learning Center Yakima · A
#23 Bayview Intergenerational Children'S Center Seattle · A
#24 Mcchord Child Development Center Lewis Mcchord · A
#25 The Gardner School Vancouver · 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 Washington is regulated by the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, 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 Washington’s public licensing file.
Washington has 2,502 active licensed daycares on the state's public file, across 248 cities, with a combined licensed capacity of 176,619. Every one has a free records layer grade on zReports.
Seattle, with 337 licensed daycares, followed by Spokane (115) and Vancouver (109).
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 Washington 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: Washington 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). Washington Licensed Child Care Rankings & Safety Report (v2026.09). zReports.org. https://zreports.org/rankings/daycare/wa
MLA, zReports Research Institute. “Washington Licensed Child Care Rankings & Safety Report.” zReports.org, v2026.09, September 2026, zreports.org/rankings/daycare/wa.
Plain, Washington Licensed Child Care Rankings & Safety Report, zReports Research Institute, v2026.09, updated September 2026, zreports.org/rankings/daycare/wa