Scorecard · Seattle, WA
Licensed home daycare
58/100
How much does it cost to start a home daycare in Seattle? $12,000–$34,000 in Seattle, WA, on the figures below.
- Profit
- B
- Seattle family childcare charges $1,500–$2,300 a month per child. Eight children at $1,800 is $14,400 a month, and Washington allows up to 12 with a second qualified adult.
- Difficulty
- D
- Washington DCYF family home licence: 30 hours of training, first aid and CPR, background checks, a home inspection, fire and health sign-off. Four to nine months before the first child arrives.
- Capital
- C$12,000–$34,000
- Home modifications for fire and safety $4,000–$14,000, cribs, gates and outdoor equipment $3,500–$9,000, licensing and training $1,500, insurance $2,000 a year.
Break-even
- The number that has to be true
- 4 children at $1,800 a month
- Fixed costs a month
- $6,800
- The assumption
- A home that passes the DCYF inspection without structural work.
Opening for less
All three together take $17,500 off: $34,000 becomes $16,500.
License for 6 children first, adding the second adult only when full
−$9,000
Costs you: The revenue ceiling is $10,800 a month until you re-license
Buy cribs, gates and outdoor equipment secondhand where regulations allow it
−$3,000
Costs you: Some items cannot be used secondhand, and the inspector decides
Start with school-age before and after care, which has lighter ratios
−$5,500
Costs you: Six earning hours a day instead of ten, and the summer is a different business
How you’d do it
What you need
- Washington DCYF family home childcare licence and 30 hours of training
- First aid, CPR, and a background check for every adult in the house
- A home that can pass fire and health inspection, with a fenced outdoor space
- Childcare liability insurance, roughly $2,000 a year
First 3 moves
- 1Read the DCYF family home checklist and walk your own house against it, room by room.
- 2Ask three Seattle home daycares what they charge and whether they have a waitlist.
- 3Start the licence application before spending on equipment.
The hardest part
The licence. Nine months of compliance before a single dollar arrives, in your own home.
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