840+ licensed providers from Uptown to Oak Cliff, with verified 2026 tuition ranges, parent reviews, and clear information on Texas Rising Star and Dallas ISD pre-K. Always free for families.
Tuition ranges are full-time, center-based monthly rates from 470+ Dallas providers, cross-checked against the Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Regulation database.
Uptown, Preston Hollow, Lakewood, and Knox-Henderson cluster at the top of the range. Lake Highlands, Oak Cliff, and Las Colinas offer the broadest mid-priced options.
Texas toddler ratios are looser than many states (1:11 by age two), which is why prices drop noticeably from the infant room. Quality varies more, so tour carefully.
Dallas ISD offers free full-day pre-K for income-eligible three- and four-year-olds at neighborhood schools and partner community centers. Worth checking before paying privately.
Sources: Texas Health and Human Services Commission Child Care Regulation, Child Care Aware of America 2025 Texas state report, DaycareSquare Dallas operator survey (Q1 2026). Updated May 2026.
Eight verified providers across the city. The full directory holds 840+ listings — filter by neighborhood, age, accreditation, and cost.
Dallas tuition can swing $400 per month across the Tollway. These are the neighborhoods with the most active providers in our directory.
Dallas has a wide daycare market: family budgets stretch from $900 a month in parts of Oak Cliff to $1,800 a month in Uptown and Preston Hollow. The state's licensing rules are looser than the national average, so the quality range is wider too. This page is meant to help you sort the field before you tour.
Dallas ISD offers free full-day pre-K for income-eligible three- and four-year-olds at over 130 elementary schools across the city, plus partner community centers in neighborhoods where a school seat is not convenient. Eligibility includes families earning up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, English learners, and children in foster care or military families. Read our Dallas ISD pre-K walkthrough.
Texas Rising Star is the state's voluntary quality rating system on a 2 to 4 star scale. 4-star programs operate at the highest level for staff qualifications, ratios, curriculum, and parent involvement. Many Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas subsidy contracts require Texas Rising Star, so quality and affordability often line up at the same providers.
Texas requires 1:4 for infants under twelve months, 1:5 for ages twelve to seventeen months, 1:9 for ages two to three, and 1:13 for ages three to four. These ratios are looser than most states, which is one reason Texas daycare is cheaper than the national average. Every legal daycare in Texas is licensed by Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Regulation, and every provider in our directory is cross-checked monthly.
In addition to Dallas ISD pre-K, working families up to a state-set income threshold may qualify for a child care subsidy through Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas, the local workforce board that administers the federal Child Care Development Fund. All families can use the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and a Dependent Care FSA. Our tax credit explainer walks through the math at common Dallas income levels.
Before your first tour, download the free DaycareSquare comparison checklist and the tour questions list.
Costs, licensing, Texas Rising Star, and subsidy programs across all of Texas.
View state page → Free toolPlug in your ZIP, child age, and care type. Get your personal monthly range in about sixty seconds.
Try the calculator → Free downloadTwenty-seven questions to ask at every tour, plus a side-by-side scoring sheet. PDF.
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