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How Childcare Inspection Finding Rates Vary Across Florida

Florida recorded 70.5 findings per 100 reports in the three-year span this study reviewed. A finding is an official state requirement an inspector cited as not met. Across 18 counties with enough reports to compare, rates ranged from 22.9 in Alachua to 183.2 in Polk, after adjusting for each county’s mix of childcare centers and family homes.

By Marty Paukstys, Founder of DaycareFacts

Published · Revised · Data covers through

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Key findings

  1. County rates spanned about 8x

    Alachua recorded 22.9 adjusted findings per 100 reports, vs. 183.2 in Polk.

  2. The city comparison was similarly wide

    Gainesville, Alachua County recorded 22.7 adjusted findings per 100 reports, vs. 187.1 in Lakeland, Polk County.

  3. Most reports had no recorded findings

    Only 27.4% of reports had a recorded finding. Some of those had several, which is how Florida reached 70.5 findings per 100 reports.

Florida’s three-year picture

9,434Providers with an inspection
83,551Inspection reports
70.5Findings per 100 reports
27.4%Reports with at least one finding

Florida recorded 58,864 findings across 83,551 reports. Of those reports, 22,885, or 27.4%, had a recorded finding. Findings per 100 reports is a rate, not a percentage, and can pass 100 when reports contain several citations.

County comparison

After adjusting for provider type, county rates ran from 22.9 per 100 reports in Alachua to 183.2 in Polk, vs. Florida’s 70.5.

Adjusted comparison

Recorded finding rates across 18 counties

Florida: 70.5

Adjusted recorded findings per 100 inspection reports. Counties are shown alphabetically. The orange line marks Florida’s statewide reference.

Alachua County1,121 reports
22.9▼ 47.6
Brevard County1,570 reports
47.8▼ 22.7
Broward County8,241 reports
41.3▼ 29.1
Collier County1,103 reports
36.5▼ 34.0
Duval County4,906 reports
49.3▼ 21.2
Hillsborough County4,783 reports
130.1▲ 59.6
Lee County1,954 reports
56.4▼ 14.0
Marion County997 reports
85.6▲ 15.2
Miami-Dade County13,883 reports
39.6▼ 30.8
Orange County4,882 reports
55.0▼ 15.4
Osceola County1,094 reports
55.1▼ 15.3
Palm Beach County6,684 reports
106.3▲ 35.9
Pasco County1,951 reports
118.9▲ 48.4
Pinellas County5,572 reports
104.3▲ 33.9
Polk County4,715 reports
183.2▲ 112.8
Sarasota County984 reports
76.4▲ 5.9
St. Lucie County1,027 reports
33.2▼ 37.3
Volusia County1,745 reports
45.6▼ 24.9

Five counties license childcare locally: Broward, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota. Broward’s rate is below Florida’s, and the other four are above it. This study does not measure the effect of local licensing.

City comparison

City rates ran from 22.7 findings per 100 inspection reports in Gainesville, Alachua County to 187.1 in Lakeland, Polk County, after adjusting for each city’s mix of childcare centers and family homes.

Adjusted comparison

Recorded finding rates across 19 cities

Florida: 70.5

Adjusted recorded findings per 100 inspection reports. Cities are shown alphabetically by county, then city. The orange line marks Florida’s statewide reference.

Gainesville, Alachua County849 reports
22.7▼ 47.7
Jacksonville, Duval County4,749 reports
50.1▼ 20.3
Brandon, Hillsborough County351 reports
103.0▲ 32.6
Tampa, Hillsborough County3,031 reports
144.8▲ 74.4
Fort Myers, Lee County970 reports
61.2▼ 9.2
Hialeah, Miami-Dade County1,990 reports
41.7▼ 28.8
Homestead, Miami-Dade County1,083 reports
36.6▼ 33.8
Miami, Miami-Dade County7,159 reports
41.0▼ 29.5
Miami Gardens, Miami-Dade County873 reports
42.4▼ 28.1
Orlando, Orange County3,742 reports
58.3▼ 12.2
Kissimmee, Osceola County752 reports
61.3▼ 9.1
Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County359 reports
109.5▲ 39.1
West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County1,422 reports
92.7▲ 22.2
Clearwater, Pinellas County1,125 reports
128.0▲ 57.6
Largo, Pinellas County628 reports
137.4▲ 66.9
St. Petersburg, Pinellas County2,132 reports
81.2▲ 10.7
Lakeland, Polk County1,768 reports
187.1▲ 116.7
Sarasota, Sarasota County635 reports
69.1▼ 1.3
Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie County604 reports
29.4▼ 41.1

Statewide values by year

July 2023 to June 2024

68.8adjusted findings per 100 reports17,604 findings in 25,547 reports

July 2024 to June 2025

66.6adjusted findings per 100 reports18,269 findings in 27,397 reports

July 2025 to June 2026

75.3adjusted findings per 100 reports22,991 findings in 30,607 reports

What this means if you’re choosing childcare

This study examines inspection records as a whole, and it cannot determine which places are safer.

A county’s or city's rate covers all of its providers. It can also reflect how often inspections were conducted, and how findings were recorded there. When choosing a provider, examine their specific record, and use this study as a reference guide for your area.

Explore Florida childcare providers

How we did this

We used Florida CARES childcare inspection records dated July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026. We counted findings per 100 reports and the share of reports with at least one finding.

We calculated rates separately for centers, family homes and large family homes, then recalculated each county and city as if it had Florida’s mix of those three provider types. This makes the local comparisons fairer.

Each county or city shown had at least 50 inspected providers, 200 reports, and 20 reports from each provider type. Eighteen counties and 19 cities qualified. Smaller communities remain in Florida’s statewide totals.

Complete county and city tables

Counts are observed totals. Rates and differences use the provider-type adjustment.

County comparison values
CountyInspected providersReportsRecorded findingsAdjusted findings per 100 reportsDifference from FloridaAdjusted reports with findings
Alachua County1291,12125222.9-47.613.7%
Brevard County1671,57077147.8-22.722.6%
Broward County7488,2413,53441.3-29.121.0%
Collier County1241,10339836.5-34.019.2%
Duval County6534,9062,32849.3-21.220.8%
Hillsborough County1,0924,7835,274130.1+59.640.7%
Lee County1991,9541,11956.4-14.026.8%
Marion County10299784685.6+15.232.7%
Miami-Dade County1,47613,8835,59039.6-30.821.2%
Orange County5094,8822,75055.0-15.424.3%
Osceola County1431,09461455.1-15.324.0%
Palm Beach County7656,6847,118106.3+35.933.8%
Pasco County1961,9512,293118.9+48.438.7%
Pinellas County5755,5725,276104.3+33.937.6%
Polk County3064,7158,679183.2+112.847.6%
Sarasota County13998472776.4+5.929.5%
St. Lucie County1391,02734933.2-37.319.7%
Volusia County1831,74581145.6-24.921.7%
City comparison values
CityInspected providersReportsRecorded findingsAdjusted findings per 100 reportsDifference from FloridaAdjusted reports with findings
Brandon, Hillsborough County82351308103.0+32.637.6%
Clearwater, Pinellas County1121,1251,343128.0+57.642.7%
Fort Myers, Lee County9497058961.2-9.229.3%
Gainesville, Alachua County10084918822.7-47.714.4%
Hialeah, Miami-Dade County2051,99082241.7-28.821.2%
Homestead, Miami-Dade County1151,08339936.6-33.819.8%
Jacksonville, Duval County6314,7492,29250.1-20.321.0%
Kissimmee, Osceola County10075246061.3-9.126.1%
Lakeland, Polk County1171,7683,249187.1+116.747.2%
Largo, Pinellas County58628764137.4+66.939.9%
Miami Gardens, Miami-Dade County9387337042.4-28.126.5%
Miami, Miami-Dade County7687,1592,99341.0-29.521.4%
Orlando, Orange County3923,7422,22658.3-12.225.1%
Port St. Lucie, St. Lucie County8760417829.4-41.116.0%
Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County51359366109.5+39.128.4%
Sarasota, Sarasota County9163541769.1-1.325.8%
St. Petersburg, Pinellas County2312,1321,51081.2+10.735.4%
Tampa, Hillsborough County7233,0313,408144.8+74.442.0%
West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County1731,4221,30792.7+22.232.6%
Detailed methods and limitations

Counting and adjustment

One finding is one citation linked to a report. Findings per 100 reports counts every citation. Reports with findings counts each report once when it has one or more linked findings.

Rates use direct standardization: each place’s rates for the three provider types are weighted by Florida’s mix of reports across those types over the full three years. The three yearly values use the same statewide mix.

Which places are shown

A place that lacked a provider type, or had fewer than 20 reports for one, is not in the local comparison. No missing rate was estimated. These rules favor larger, frequently inspected areas, so the 18 counties and 19 cities should not stand in for places that were not included.

Data quality

CARES report flags and linked finding rows disagreed for 131 reports. We used the linked finding rows consistently and kept the mismatch in the audit.

Limits

These public records are not a random sample. They do not fully identify why each inspection occurred, and inspection frequency and reporting can differ by place and provider type. The adjustment covers only the three provider types. It does not account for capacity, children served, current conditions or the effect of local licensing.

No sampling margin of error or uncertainty interval is available for these administrative counts, and no statistical-significance test was performed. The rates do not establish causes or measure child outcomes, current conditions, safety or childcare quality.

The official records are available through the Florida CARES public search. DaycareFacts does not currently offer the derived study tables as a public download.

Sources and related research

  1. Florida Department of Children and Families. Florida CARES public search. Open official source
  2. DaycareFacts. Data and methodology
  3. DaycareFacts Research. What Florida Childcare Inspectors Cite Most Often Published · Updated .

Cite this study

Paukstys, M. (2026, August 8). How Childcare Inspection Finding Rates Vary Across Florida. DaycareFacts. https://daycarefacts.com/research/how-childcare-inspection-finding-rates-vary-across-florida