WestwardAI Consulting

Local market data · Preschools and daycares · Chicago

AI for preschools and daycares in Chicago

The Chicago metro area had 2,550 preschools and daycares in 2022, the 3rd most of 387 US metros and 3% of all in the country. They employed 31,426 people at an average of $33,687 a year. 59% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.

Talk through your school with the person who builds it

A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your preschool or daycare to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.

Preschools and daycares in Chicago vs the US

Chicago metroUnited States
Businesses2,55080,120
People employed31,426966,107
Average staff per business12.312.1
Average yearly pay per employee$33,687$28,516
Share with fewer than 10 staff59%56%

Pay here is 18% higher than the national average for preschools and daycares, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average preschool or daycare here has 12.3 people on payroll, about the same as the US figure of 12.1.

How big preschools and daycares in Chicago are

Fewer than 5 staff1,112 (44%) US 37%
5 to 9399 (16%) US 19%
10 to 19557 (22%) US 24%
20 to 49433 (17%) US 17%
50 or more46 (2%) US 2%

Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.

Preschools and daycares by county in the Chicago area

Cook County has the most, with 1,608 of the metro's 2,550 (63%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Chicago ranks 3rd for average pay and 3rd for the share of small firms.

CountyBusinessesEmployeesAvg pay
Cook County1,60820,806$35,740
Lake County2372,269$29,606
DuPage County2232,623$30,671
Lake County1261,070$24,500
Will County1221,701$30,290
Kane County891,204$32,621
McHenry County69905$29,071
Kendall County28331$29,012
Porter County24244$25,004
DeKalb County15198$29,177
Grundy County669$37,304

Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.

Where AI helps a preschool or daycare first

Start with the parts of the day where staff are pulled away from children to answer the phone: tour requests, waitlist questions, “can she come in today?” and enrollment paperwork. AI can answer common questions from your own handbook and keep the waitlist moving. It should never touch care decisions, and a director approves anything that goes to parents.

What your team's admin hours cost in Chicago

Change any number. The starting values are the Chicago averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.

Those hours cost you$76,800 a year

The share you would hand off$23,040 a year

Hours your team gets back1,440 a year

See what we would build for this

Guides for preschools and daycares, one job each

Preschools and daycares in other big metros

MetroBusinessesAvg payRank of 387
Los Angeles2,578$35,0082nd
New York6,391$33,0661st
Miami1,497$28,34210th
Dallas1,507$28,5738th
Houston1,503$25,7339th
Atlanta1,435$26,40611th
Washington1,831$32,4546th
Philadelphia2,042$28,9684th
Boston1,741$34,6497th

Where these numbers come from

From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 624410 (Child day care services), for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (13 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.

Find the hours your school can get back

A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your preschool or daycare to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.

Related businesses in Chicago

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