Opening a Daycare in Texas: Complete Guide

To open a daycare in Texas, you pick one of four permit types, take the state's pre-application class, apply to Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) Child Care Regulation, pass background checks and inspections, and then meet the state's minimum standards for staff, ratios and space. A registered home daycare costs $35 to apply for and needs no college degree. A center needs a qualified director, plus a fire inspection and a sanitation inspection before it can get its first license.

This guide takes each step in order, with the rule behind it and a link to the official source. The rules were checked on September 26, 2026, and the fees and pending changes again on October 17, 2026. Texas is changing several of them, so a section near the end lists what is about to move.

How to Open a Daycare in Texas in 8 Steps

1. Choose your permit type: listed home, registered home, licensed home or licensed center.
2. Check zoning, building code and HOA rules for your location.
3. Take the HHSC pre-application class. A listed home can skip it.
4. Meet the owner and caregiver rules, and hire a qualified director if you are opening a center.
5. Apply with the forms, a floor plan, background checks, proof of liability insurance and the fee.
6. For a center, pass a fire inspection and a sanitation inspection.
7. Pass the HHSC inspection and get your permit.
8. Hire and train staff and write your policies before the first child arrives.

Texas Daycare Permit Types

Texas sorts child care by where it happens and how many children are in care. The regulator is HHSC Child Care Regulation, usually shortened to CCR. Older guides, including the earlier version of this one, send you to the Department of Family and Protective Services. Child care permits now come from HHSC.

Sources: the permit chart in 26 TAC 745.37, the definitions in Human Resources Code chapter 42 (section 42.002), and the HHSC fee handbook. Texas also licenses before- and after-school programs and school-age programs, which are outside the scope of this guide.

Which one should you pick? If you have never run a daycare, a registered home is the cheapest way to find out whether you like the work. It needs no degree, HHSC does not require a fire inspection for it (your city might), and the application costs $35. A center makes sense once you have a qualified director lined up and a building that can pass fire and sanitation inspections.

How Many Kids Can You Watch Without a License in Texas?

If you are paid and the care is regular, you need an HHSC permit for even one unrelated child. For one to three children, that permit is a listing, the lightest one Texas has. Here is how the thresholds in HRC 42.052 work:

• Only relatives: no permit, for any number of children. Texas counts your children, grandchildren, siblings, great-grandchildren, first cousins, nieces and nephews as related.
• 1 to 3 unrelated children, paid, regular care: list your home. A listing costs $20 and needs a background check, a high school diploma or equivalent, one hour of safe-sleep training, and liability insurance or a written notice to parents that you have none.
• 4 to 6 unrelated children (plus up to 6 school-age children after school): register.
• More than 6 children during the school day, up to 12: get a licensed child care home permit.

"Regular care" means at least four hours a day, three or more days a week, for three or more weeks in a row, or four hours a day on 40 or more days in 12 months. Unpaid care, or care below both of those lines, needs no permit for up to three unrelated children.

How to Get a Daycare License in Texas

These steps cover licensed centers and licensed homes. A registered home follows the same path with a shorter list, covered after step 5.

1. Take the pre-application class

HHSC calls it orientation. Centers take the Licensed Center Orientation class. Licensed and registered homes take Home Based Orientation. HHSC may hold it online or as a virtual meeting, and you sign up on the CCR training page. Your application must show you finished it within one year before you apply (26 TAC 745.243), so do not take it years ahead.

2. Submit your application

For a center, HHSC's center provider page lists the forms: Form 2910 (the application), Form 2948 (Plan of Operation), Form 2911 (Governing Body and Director Designation) and Form 2760 (Controlling Person). You send them to your local CCR office. Once CCR accepts the application and gives you an operation number, you create a Child Care Regulation online account.

Homes flip the order: you create the online account first and submit an eApplication through it. HHSC's home provider page says not to pay any fees until CCR sends your operation number and an invoice.

A licensed center's application package also includes:

• A floor plan with the dimensions of the indoor and outdoor space
• Background check requests
• Form 2982, a personal history statement, for each sole proprietor, partner and director
• Proof that franchise taxes are paid, if you are a for-profit corporation or LLC
• Proof of liability insurance
• Proof you took the pre-application class
• The $35 application fee

3. Clear the background checks

Texas checks the owner, every employee, and anyone 14 or older who counts in the ratio, has unsupervised access to children, lives in a home daycare or is there regularly (26 TAC 745.605). Most checks are fingerprint-based and include a state and FBI criminal history check, the Texas Central Registry of abuse and neglect, and the National Sex Offender Registry. HHSC charges $2 for each check you submit, and a paid employee pays $40.00 at the fingerprinting appointment ($38.00 if the person is unpaid) (HHSC background check fees). No one new may be at your operation until HHSC says they are eligible. The one exception: they can attend orientation or pre-service training as long as they have no contact with children.

4. Book your fire and sanitation inspections (centers)

A center needs a fire inspection by a state or local fire marshal and a sanitation inspection by a local sanitation official before HHSC issues its first permit, and again at least once every 12 months (26 TAC 746.5101 and 746.3401). A center in a public school facility run by the local school district is exempt from both inspections. Licensed and registered homes do not need either inspection from HHSC, though local ordinances can require one.

Zoning, building code and HOA rules are not CCR requirements. HHSC warns that local officials may still want them met before they will do your fire and sanitation inspections. Call your fire marshal and health department early. They run on their own schedules, and your first license waits on both.

5. Pass the inspection and get your initial license

HHSC has 21 days to review your paperwork (26 TAC 745.301) and must issue or deny a permit within two months after it accepts your application, unless it has good cause (745.321). If it misses that deadline without good cause, you can ask for a refund of your application fee (745.519). Be careful with the paperwork: after three returns for being incomplete, you have to wait a year to apply again (745.303).

A center or licensed home gets an initial license first. Since September 1, 2025, state law makes an initial license good for 12 months, with one possible six-month renewal (HRC 42.051). You can move to a full license once the initial license has been in effect for at least three months, HHSC has made three inspections, you have stayed in compliance, and you have paid the full license fee (HHSC handbook 3531.1). Registered and listed homes get a full permit from the start.

The registration process for a home daycare

Registering a home takes fewer pieces. You take Home Based Orientation, create the online account, and submit an eApplication. HHSC's checklist for a registration (26 TAC 745.243) asks for:

• The application, Form 2919
• Background checks and Form 2760 (Controlling Person)
• Current pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR certificates
• Proof you took the pre-application class within the past year
• Proof of a high school diploma or equivalent
• Proof of the required training topics
• Proof of liability insurance
• Proof that franchise taxes are paid, if that applies to your business
• The $35 application fee

HHSC works on the same two-month deadline as for a license. Once approved, a registered home gets its full permit right away, with no initial license and no HHSC fire or sanitation inspection.

Texas Daycare Licensing Fees

Source: HHSC Child Care Regulation Handbook, section 5200. Fingerprinting is extra and paid at the appointment: $40.00 for a paid employee or $38.00 for an unpaid person (HHSC background check fees). For example, a center licensed for 60 children pays $35 to apply, $35 for the initial license, $95 for the full license and $95 each year after that. Pay the annual fee on time: a late fee automatically suspends your permit until you pay, and HHSC revokes it if the fee is not paid within six months (HRC 42.054).

Qualifications to Open a Childcare Center in Texas

The center rules set qualifications for the director, not the owner. You can be both the owner and the director only if you meet the director qualifications yourself (26 TAC 746.1007). Every owner still needs a background check.

A director of a center licensed for 13 or more children must be at least 21, have a high school diploma or equivalent, and meet one of these combinations (26 TAC 746.1015):

A few details make these easier to meet than they look:

• Experience can be paid or unpaid. Full-time means at least 30 hours a week.
• 50 clock hours of training (or five CEUs) can replace every three college credit hours required in child development and management.
• A center licensed for 12 or fewer children has lighter options, including 72 clock hours in child development and 30 in management plus three years of experience (26 TAC 746.1017).
• While your center runs on an initial license, you can use an interim director who meets every requirement except education (26 TAC 746.1067).

HHSC issues a director's certificate once it approves your director, and it charges no fee for it (26 TAC 746.1061). The director must be at the center at least 75 percent of its operating hours each week, or 30 hours a week, whichever is less. For more on credentials like the CDA, see certifications you need to open a daycare.

Starting a Home Daycare in Texas

Yes, you can run a daycare out of your home in Texas. The primary caregiver of a registered home must (26 TAC 747.1007):

• Be at least 21 and have a high school diploma or equivalent
• Have finished the pre-application course within one year before applying
• Pass background checks, along with any household member 14 or older
• Hold current pediatric first aid and pediatric CPR certificates
• Show training in topics such as child abuse and neglect, shaken baby syndrome, safe sleep, brain development and emergency preparedness

Registered caregivers aged 18 to 20 qualify if they also have a CDA or CCP credential, an associate of applied science degree or community college certificate in child care, an approved administrator's credential, or six college credit hours in child development plus nine months of experience. There is no experience requirement for a registered caregiver who is 21 or older.

A licensed home asks for more: the same basics plus an education and experience combination. The lightest options are a CDA or CCP credential with three college credit hours in management and one year of experience, or 72 clock hours in child development and 30 in management with three years of experience (26 TAC 747.1107).

Infants limit how many children you can take. During the school day, a registered home can have at most six children, counting your own, and no more than four of them younger than 18 months. Counting school-age children after school, the cap is 12 with no infants, 10 with one, 8 with two, 7 with three and 6 with four (26 TAC 747.1701). Space rules apply at home too: 30 square feet of usable indoor activity space per child in care, and 80 square feet of outdoor space per child using the yard at one time. The full rules are in the HHSC minimum standards for child care homes.

Two 2025 state laws help home providers. No city, county or other local government can make a listed, registered or licensed home meet health and safety standards stricter than state law and HHSC rules (Local Government Code 250.014). A city also cannot make you rezone your house, or install fire sprinklers in a single-family house or duplex, to run a home-based business (Local Government Code 229.902). Neither law stops a homeowners association from enforcing its deed restrictions, so read yours before you apply.

For a weekly budget, see in-home daycare costs and how to price in-home child care per hour.

Hiring Daycare Staff in Texas

Center caregivers must be at least 18 and have a high school diploma, a high school equivalent, or a high school certificate of coursework completion (26 TAC 746.1107). You can hire a 16 or 17 year old with a diploma or equivalent and count them in the ratio if they finished an approved child care career program, work in the same room as a qualified caregiver, and are never left alone in charge of children. A 16, 17 or 18 year old still in high school can count too, under the same conditions, if they are enrolled in or have finished that kind of program (26 TAC 746.1109).

Here is the training every center caregiver needs (26 TAC 746.1301):

At least one person with a current pediatric CPR certificate must be at the center whenever children are there (26 TAC 746.1315). Caregivers of children under 24 months also need training on shaken baby syndrome, safe sleep and brain development. Center directors, and the primary caregivers of registered and licensed homes, must be at least 21. Those home caregivers need 30 clock hours of training a year.

For the hiring side, see how to become a certified daycare teacher and how many staff you can have before you need HR.

Texas Daycare Ratios and Group Sizes

For a center with 13 or more children, these are the most children one caregiver may supervise and the largest a group may be (26 TAC 746.1601 and 746.1609):

Ratios set your payroll. One caregiver may have four babies, and a full group of 10 babies takes two caregivers. The same two caregivers could cover a group of 35 four-year-olds. In Texas, the group size is also the most children two or more caregivers may supervise together. During the first 45 minutes after opening and the last 45 minutes before closing, children 18 months and older can be grouped at 16 per caregiver. That does not apply to younger children.

When 12 or fewer children are in care at a center, a mixed-age chart applies instead (26 TAC 746.1701). One caregiver may have 12 children with no infants, 11 with one infant, 10 with two, 7 with three, and no one else in care with four infants. To see what these ratios mean for your prices, try our daycare rate calculator.

Setting Up Your Daycare Space

A center needs at least 30 square feet of indoor activity space for each child it is licensed to serve (26 TAC 746.4201). A license for 60 children needs at least 1,800 square feet of activity space. Outdoors, the rule is 80 square feet for each child using the play area at one time, and the area must hold at least 25 percent of your licensed capacity (26 TAC 746.4301).

Your application needs a floor plan with those dimensions, so measure before you sign a lease. Our guide to what it costs to rent a daycare center covers the lease side, and the daycare equipment list walks through each room, with the Texas rules that apply to cribs, first aid kits and fire safety.

If you add cameras, know the parent rule first. Since September 1, 2023, Texas parents have had the right to inspect any video of an alleged abuse or neglect incident involving their child, when a recording exists (HRC 42.04271). Our daycare security camera guide covers how many cameras to buy and where they must never go.

Curriculum and the Texas Early Learning Guidelines

The center rules require planned activities that fit each child's needs and developmental level (26 TAC 746.2201). They do not require a specific curriculum. HHSC points caregivers to two references: the Texas Infant, Toddler, and Three-Year-Old Early Learning Guidelines, and the Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines from the Texas Education Agency. The agency says the prekindergarten guidelines are not meant to be used as a curriculum, so use them to check your plans, not to replace them.

If you plan to serve families who pay with Texas Workforce Commission child care scholarships, plan for Texas Rising Star. It is TWC's quality rating system. Every program serving children in TWC's Child Care Services scholarship program must join at least at the Entry Level and reach a star level within 24 months. Entry Level earns no higher rate. The Two-, Three- and Four-Star levels are tied to higher payment rates (TWC certification guidelines).

Policies, Records and Parent Rights

Before you open, write your operational policies. The center rules list 30 items they must cover, including your hours, who may pick up a child, when a sick child stays home, medication, discipline, suspension and expulsion, safe sleep, immunizations and your emergency plan (26 TAC 746.501). Parents sign an enrollment agreement that includes those policies on or before the child's first day.

You also keep a record for each child: the enrollment agreement, admission information, a health statement, immunization records, incident reports, medication records and a daily sign-in and sign-out record with the date, times and initials. Keep them for at least three months after the child's last day. Childcare management software can handle sign-in, billing and parent messages. See our list of childcare management apps.

By the child's first day, parents must also get a written list of their rights. It includes how to look up your compliance history online.

Staying Compliant After You Open

• Annual fee: due on your permit's anniversary date every year.
• Renewal: a full license or registration must be renewed every two years. The window opens 60 days before the anniversary, and you get 30 more days after it. If the permit expires, you must stop operating immediately (26 TAC 745.473 and 745.483). A listing never needs renewal.
• Liability insurance: since January 1, 2026, license and registration holders must carry $100,000 per occurrence, down from $300,000 (HHSC policy letter PGL 26-11001). File proof every year. If you cannot get coverage, you must tell each child's parents in writing and tell HHSC. For costs and the companies that insure daycares, see our home daycare insurance guide.
• Inspections: centers repeat the fire and sanitation inspections at least every 12 months.
• Background checks: run one for every new hire and renew fingerprint-based checks within five years.

Your inspection history is public on Search Texas Child Care. Any parent can look you up there. If you are thinking of buying an existing center, look it up there before you make an offer.

What It Costs to Open a Daycare in Texas

The state's fees are the small part: $35 to apply for a license or registration, $20 for a listing. The big costs are rent or a mortgage, remodeling to pass inspections, equipment, insurance and payroll, and they depend on whether you open at home or in a center. These guides break down each piece:

• How much it costs to rent a daycare center
• Weekly costs of an in-home daycare
• Daycare equipment list
• How to start a daycare with no money

Once you know your costs, fill your first rooms before opening day. Start a waiting list while you wait on inspections, and ask parents on it which ages and hours they need. That list tells you which rooms to staff first.

Texas Rules Changing in 2026

A 2025 state law, House Bill 2789, changed several rules before the written standards caught up. HHSC says it follows the law until the rules are updated (HHSC summary of the 2025 bills):

• Liability insurance dropped to $100,000 per occurrence. The administrative code still said $300,000 as of October 16, 2026; HHSC proposed the matching change on August 28, 2026 (Texas Register).
• An initial license now lasts 12 months instead of six.
• CCR no longer requires TB screening for anyone.
• Centers and licensed homes no longer have to keep vision and hearing screening records.

HHSC has also proposed a rewrite of the center rules. As published for public comment in August 2026, it would cut the outdoor space requirement from 80 to 75 square feet per child and require at least two hours of abuse-prevention training a year (HHSC notice). Comments closed in mid-September 2026, and it had not been adopted as of the October 16, 2026, Texas Register. Before you apply, check the current HHSC minimum standards.

Texas Daycare FAQ

Q:

How much does it cost to open a daycare in Texas?

HHSC's own fees are small. A licensed center pays $35 to apply, $35 for the initial license, and $35 plus $1 per licensed child for the full license and every year after that. The real cost is your building, equipment, insurance and staff, which vary widely between a home daycare and a center. The guides linked in the cost section above break those down.

Q:

What are the requirements for child care licensing in Texas?

For a licensed center: the HHSC pre-application class within a year of applying, a complete application with a floor plan and proof of liability insurance, background checks on the owner and staff, a qualified director, a fire inspection and a sanitation inspection, and an HHSC inspection. After opening, you meet the minimum standards for ratios, training, space and records.

Q:

How many kids can you watch without a license in Texas?

With no permit at all, up to three unrelated children, as long as the care is unpaid or not regular. Regular means at least four hours a day, three days a week, for three weeks in a row, or four hours a day on 40 days in a year. Paid, regular care of one to three unrelated children needs a listing, which is a simple permit rather than a license. Four or more unrelated children needs a registration or a license, depending on how many. Care only for children related to you needs no permit.

Q:

Can you run a daycare out of your home in Texas?

Yes. A listed home can care for up to three unrelated children, a registered home up to six plus six school-age children after school, and a licensed home 7 to 12. No home may have more than 12 children in care, counting children related to the caregiver.

Q:

Do you need a degree to open a daycare in Texas?

No. A home daycare needs no degree, and the center rules set qualifications for the director rather than the owner. Even a center director can qualify without a degree, for example with a CDA credential, six college credit hours in management and two years of experience.

Q:

How old do you have to be to work at a daycare in Texas?

A center caregiver must be at least 18. A 16 or 17 year old can count in the ratio if they have a diploma or are still in high school, are in or have finished an approved child care career program, work in the same room as a qualified caregiver, and are never left alone in charge. Center directors and the primary caregivers of registered and licensed homes must be at least 21, with an exception for registered caregivers aged 18 to 20 who meet extra education rules.

Q:

How do I become a daycare worker in Texas?

Be at least 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent, and pass a background check before you start. At a center, you complete orientation within your first seven days and 8 hours of pre-service training before you count in the ratio. The other 16 pre-service hours, plus pediatric first aid and CPR, are due within 90 days. After that, you need 24 hours of training every year.

Q:

How long does it take to get a daycare license in Texas?

Once HHSC accepts a complete application, it must issue or deny the permit within two months unless it has good cause. Add the time to take the pre-application class, gather forms and pass local fire and sanitation inspections. A center then runs on an initial license for at least three months before it can get a full license.

Q:

Do you need a license to open a preschool in Texas?

Usually, yes. A preschool that cares for seven or more children under 14 for at least two hours a day, three or more days a week, outside the owner's home fits the state's definition of a day-care center. Some programs run by accredited schools are exempt under HRC 42.041, so check that list before you apply.