Texas Childcare Deserts

Direct-current Texas reconstruction using current HHSC qualifying supply and U.S. Census Bureau ACS working-parent-under-six demand.

744

Childcare desert ZIP/ZCTA evidence areas

1,784,807

Children under 6 with working parents

1,185,307

Current qualifying authorized capacity

463,280 / 20.6%

Children under 6 outside the working-parent denominator

Texas/TWC-compatible rule: children under age six with working parents are divided by current qualifying regulated childcare capacity. An evidence area is classified as a childcare desert when there are at least 3.0 working-parent children under six per qualifying slot. Positive working-parent demand with no qualifying capacity is also classified as a desert.

Evidence universe: 744 of 1,990 Texas ZIP/ZCTA areas with direct ACS working-parent demand evidence meet the Texas-compatible desert test. The qualifying supply used in the calculation represents 13,138 current HHSC operations and 1,185,307 authorized capacity.

Who is not counted?

1,784,807 children under age six are inside the working-parent denominator and 463,280 are outside it, from 2,248,087 total children under six in the direct evidence universe.

The desert methodology answers a specific workforce-access question. It does not measure the childcare circumstances of every Texas child under six, and children outside the denominator should not be interpreted as all requiring licensed childcare.

Download Who Is Not Counted CSV

Desert areas with no qualifying capacity

These areas have positive working-parent-under-six demand but zero current qualifying capacity in the direct-current calculation. They are deserts under the same Texas-compatible rule even though a finite children-per-slot ratio cannot be calculated.

ZIP	Working-parent children under 6	Current qualifying capacity	Outside denominator
79906	1,242	No qualifying capacity	39
79766	873	No qualifying capacity	336
75172	813	No qualifying capacity	0
75708	782	No qualifying capacity	18
79908	762	No qualifying capacity	0
77563	625	No qualifying capacity	261
75706	509	No qualifying capacity	44
76539	509	No qualifying capacity	38
75693	501	No qualifying capacity	126
78073	486	No qualifying capacity	74
75414	482	No qualifying capacity	0
78112	474	No qualifying capacity	189
79607	471	No qualifying capacity	118
78234	437	No qualifying capacity	69
78002	433	No qualifying capacity	46
76487	375	No qualifying capacity	181
78619	369	No qualifying capacity	64
78657	342	No qualifying capacity	94
76932	342	No qualifying capacity	15
79013	320	No qualifying capacity	132
78025	319	No qualifying capacity	26
76050	318	No qualifying capacity	14
75704	317	No qualifying capacity	256
76431	313	No qualifying capacity	67
76066	306	No qualifying capacity	48
76055	306	No qualifying capacity	18
77861	292	No qualifying capacity	11
75433	289	No qualifying capacity	6
76035	261	No qualifying capacity	21
75446	245	No qualifying capacity	120
77485	238	No qualifying capacity	27
76311	238	No qualifying capacity	49
75692	236	No qualifying capacity	10
78383	231	No qualifying capacity	34
75473	228	No qualifying capacity	0
75471	224	No qualifying capacity	9
77831	223	No qualifying capacity	231
76641	221	No qualifying capacity	20
75563	220	No qualifying capacity	40
79758	219	No qualifying capacity	14

Where working-parent demand most exceeds current qualifying capacity

This table ranks desert areas that have positive qualifying capacity by working-parent children under six per current qualifying slot.

ZIP	Working-parent children under 6	Current qualifying capacity	Children per slot	Outside denominator
76544	3,485	54	64.54	350
75021	631	12	52.58	118
78059	762	15	50.80	0
78593	340	12	28.33	146
75946	309	12	25.75	9
78615	285	12	23.75	0
76470	269	12	22.42	28
75755	255	12	21.25	31
76022	1,243	59	21.07	195
79118	1,681	81	20.75	510
77362	467	24	19.46	35
79036	220	12	18.33	70
79911	900	50	18.00	99
75249	782	44	17.77	742
78370	342	20	17.10	193
76689	443	26	17.04	16
78725	599	36	16.64	60
75410	181	11	16.45	94
77011	766	47	16.30	184
75975	195	12	16.25	110
75220	3,418	213	16.05	590
78152	315	20	15.75	51
77076	1,449	92	15.75	938
79789	122	8	15.25	45
76557	176	12	14.67	39
75750	176	12	14.67	0
77328	1,097	76	14.43	130
76426	588	41	14.34	68
79845	278	20	13.90	44
75792	166	12	13.83	28
76164	454	33	13.76	411
78065	577	44	13.11	395
79562	588	46	12.78	20
76305	153	12	12.75	12
75109	152	12	12.67	171
75645	642	51	12.59	20
79836	604	48	12.58	162
79381	148	12	12.33	26
75141	388	33	11.76	432
79043	141	12	11.75	70

Sources: Texas HHSC Child Care Regulation operations data and U.S. Census Bureau ACS B23008. Authorized capacity is not the same thing as vacancies, current enrollment availability, or time-specific open seats.