520+ licensed providers from Stone Oak to Southtown, with verified 2026 tuition ranges, parent reviews, and clear information on Texas Rising Star and Pre-K 4 SA. Always free for families.
Tuition ranges are full-time, center-based monthly rates from 310+ San Antonio providers, cross-checked against the Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Regulation database.
Stone Oak, Alamo Heights, and the Pearl District cluster at the top of the range. The Northwest Side, Westover Hills, and Universal City 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.
Pre-K 4 SA is the city's free full-day pre-K program for four-year-olds, funded by a one-eighth-cent sales tax. Hundreds of seats are reserved at quality community centers.
Sources: Texas Health and Human Services Commission Child Care Regulation, Child Care Aware of America 2025 Texas state report, DaycareSquare San Antonio operator survey (Q1 2026). Updated May 2026.
Eight verified providers across the city. The full directory holds 520+ listings — filter by neighborhood, age, accreditation, and cost.
San Antonio tuition can swing $300 per month across a single highway exit. These are the neighborhoods with the most active providers in our directory.
San Antonio is one of the country's most affordable major-city daycare markets, with verified center-based care starting under $900 per month for older preschoolers. It is also one of the most under-marketed: many families never hear about Pre-K 4 SA or Workforce Solutions Alamo subsidies until a friend mentions them. This page tries to fix that.
Pre-K 4 SA is the city's free, full-day, high-quality pre-K program for four-year-olds, funded by a one-eighth-cent sales tax that voters approved in 2012 and renewed in 2020. The program operates four model centers plus a network of partner classrooms at participating private daycares and Head Start sites across San Antonio. Income and residency rules apply for some seats; others are open to any San Antonio four-year-old. Read our Pre-K 4 SA 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. Texas Rising Star 4 programs are required for many subsidy contracts, 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 Pre-K 4 SA, working families up to a state-set income threshold may qualify for a child care subsidy through Workforce Solutions Alamo, 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 San Antonio 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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