A short, honest guide to Nevada daycare.
Nevada's daycare market is dominated by the Las Vegas Valley, which holds roughly three-quarters of the state's licensed center seats, and the Reno-Sparks metro, which holds most of the rest. Outside those two metros, families rely heavily on licensed family child care homes, Head Start, and a growing network of military child development centers serving Nellis Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Fallon. Nevada has invested steadily in Silver State Stars and the Nevada Ready! Pre-K program, but does not yet offer universal Pre-K.
Silver State Stars
Silver State Stars is Nevada's voluntary five-star Quality Rating and Improvement System, administered by The Children's Cabinet on behalf of DPBH. Programs earn one through five stars based on staff qualifications, learning environment, family engagement, and program administration. Higher stars represent meaningful investment above licensing minimums. Filter our directory by Silver State Stars rating.
Source: Nevada Department of Education Silver State Stars annual report 2024; Child Care Aware of America 2025 Nevada state report. Silver State Stars participation has expanded steadily since the program's redesign, with strong concentration in Clark and Washoe counties.
Nevada Ready! State Pre-K
The Nevada Ready! State Pre-K program, administered by the Nevada Department of Education, funds Pre-K seats for four-year-olds at participating Clark County School District, Washoe County School District, and rural district sites, plus approved community-based partners. Programs combine state funding with federal Title I and Preschool Development Grant funding. Federal Head Start and Early Head Start fund additional free seats statewide, with strong tribal Head Start coverage on the Pyramid Lake Paiute, Walker River Paiute, and Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute reservations. Read our Nevada Pre-K options walkthrough.
Nevada licensing and ratios
The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance licenses every legal child care center, preschool, family child care home, and school-age program under NRS 432A. Center ratios are 1:4 for infants under twelve months, 1:6 for one- to two-year-olds, 1:10 for three-year-olds, and 1:13 for four- and five-year-olds. Family child care homes follow separate group-size rules. Every provider in our directory is cross-checked against the DPBH licensing database monthly.
Financial help in Nevada
The Nevada Child Care and Development Program, administered through The Children's Cabinet (northern Nevada) and Las Vegas Urban League (southern Nevada), subsidizes care for working families up to 85 percent of state median income using federal CCDF funding. Tribal CCDF programs serve Native families across reservations. The Nevada Ready! Pre-K program funds state Pre-K for many four-year-olds. Federal Head Start and Early Head Start fund additional free seats. All families can use the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and a Dependent Care FSA if offered through work. Our tax credit explainer walks through the math.
Where Nevada parents tend to overpay
- Defaulting to a Strip-adjacent or Summerlin center when a Silver State four-star or five-star program in Henderson, Spring Valley, or Centennial Hills runs $150 to $300 less per month for the same care.
- Paying private preschool tuition for a four-year-old without checking whether their attendance zone participates in Nevada Ready! Pre-K or whether a Head Start seat is available.
- Skipping the Nevada Child Care subsidy application; the 85 percent SMI threshold reaches well into working families, and Clark County School District employee child care discounts can layer meaningful additional support.
Before your first tour, download the free DaycareSquare comparison checklist and the tour questions list.
