WestwardAI Consulting

Local market data · Preschools and daycares · New York

AI for preschools and daycares in New York

The New York metro area had 6,391 preschools and daycares in 2022, the most of all 387 US metros and 8% of all in the country. They employed 86,777 people at an average of $33,066 a year. 60% 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 New York vs the US

New York metroUnited States
Businesses6,39180,120
People employed86,777966,107
Average staff per business13.612.1
Average yearly pay per employee$33,066$28,516
Share with fewer than 10 staff60%56%

Pay here is 16% 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 13.6 people on payroll, 13% higher than the US figure of 12.1.

How big preschools and daycares in New York are

Fewer than 5 staff2,912 (46%) US 37%
5 to 9900 (14%) US 19%
10 to 191,225 (19%) US 24%
20 to 491,130 (18%) US 17%
50 or more224 (4%) US 2%

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

Preschools and daycares by county in the New York area

Kings County has the most, with 1,023 of the metro's 6,391 (16%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, New York ranks 4th for average pay and 2nd for the share of small firms.

CountyBusinessesEmployeesAvg pay
Kings County1,02313,247$39,181
Queens County6689,769$36,175
Bronx County6365,152$37,409
Nassau County5925,742$29,790
New York County4957,902$39,030
Westchester County4004,562$32,325
Suffolk County3977,264$28,347
Bergen County2994,519$29,567
Hudson County2703,940$33,200
Essex County2674,162$33,208
Middlesex County2002,828$27,892
Monmouth County1742,610$27,445

10 smaller counties not shown. 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 New York

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

Those hours cost you$89,600 a year

The share you would hand off$26,880 a year

Hours your team gets back1,680 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
Chicago2,550$33,6873rd
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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area (22 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 New York

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