How much does it cost to start a daycare or nursery?
About $117,000 all in for a small one, opened by one founder in an American city: $45,900 to open the doors and $71,500 to keep going for the a year it typically takes to pay its way. Below, every item at low, typical and high with where it comes from — and your own quote, for your country, your town, how you start and the money you have.
To open: $45,900
Indoor furniture, cribs, cots, kitchen appliances: $12,000 ($6,000–$20,000). Playground: child tables/chairs $100–$300 per child, cubbies $300–$2,500, changing tables $250–$500, fridge $800–$1,000, stove $800–$1,200 (small centre total $15k–$45k incl. playground)
Outdoor play equipment: $8,000 ($3,000–$25,000). Playground: playground equipment $8,000–$25,000; small-yard set-ups less (estimate)
Safety work, fencing, security system: $2,000 ($400–$5,000). Playground: security $400–$5,000; fire extinguishers $50–$250 each
Toys, books, art supplies, rest mats: $3,500 ($2,350–$4,750). Playground: consumer goods total $2,350–$4,750 upfront
Computer, printer, first aid, cleaning kit: $3,000 ($1,800–$4,900). Playground: operations upfront $1,800–$4,900
Licence, inspections, background checks: $1,000 ($350–$2,500). Playground: child-care licensing $100–$800, facility inspections $200–$600, background checks $50–$150 per person (zoning variances $300–$5,000+ extra)
CPR and first-aid training: $300 ($50–$600). Playground: training $50–$600 per employee
Insurance, first year: $5,000 ($3,000–$15,000). Playground: insurance $3,000–$15,000 a year
Sign, website, flyers: $2,000 ($600–$6,000). Playground: basic marketing set-up $600–$6,000
Forming the company: $800 ($150–$2,500). An LLC's state filing is $50–$500 (state fee schedules), plus an EIN (free) and a registered agent; the World Bank measured the procedures at about 1% of income per capita, about $850 (Doing Business 2020); a lawyer's formation package $500–$2,000.
Lease deposit: $5,500 ($2,000–$19,400). Two to three months' rent is usual for a first-time tenant (Aquila Commercial; REBusiness, restaurant lease counsel). 1,500 sq ft typical. Playground: Boston example $31.17/sq ft at 35 sq ft per child (state minimum indoor space, e.g. Massachusetts); Colliers US Retail Q3 2025: average asking rent $25.53/sq ft/yr (year-end 2025 $25.69); CBRE Q3 2025 neighbourhood/strip centres $24.92; Shopify cites malls ~$33 and general retail ~$25 (2024)
Rent while you fit out, before opening: $2,750 ($0–$19,400). Landlords often give a few months rent-free for a build-out, often used up by permits before work starts (NYC restaurant lease counsel, DHC Legal); none to three months paid.
To keep going until it pays its way: $71,500
Running costs while sales build: $12,200 ($2,850–$47,500). Child-care management software, Food and snacks (10 children), Electricity, heating, water, Diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, Marketing, until it breaks even; sales are taken to grow evenly to cover them, so about half is needed. Break-even: Daycare planning guides (2025): 50% enrolment within 3 months, 75–80% in 6–9 months, full in 12–18; full cost recovery 18–36 months (dojobusiness.com)
Rent while sales build: $16,500 ($3,000–$77,500). The premises' monthly cost above, until it breaks even, half of it covered by sales as they grow.
Your own living costs until it can pay you: $42,700 ($21,400–$85,400). A one-person household spends about $3,560 a month in America (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2021–22); nothing is paid to you until the business breaks even.
All in: $117,000
About $117,000 all in ($46,900–$335,000): $45,900 to open and $71,500 to keep going for the a year it typically takes to pay its way.
With $10,000 of your own you are $107,000 short: borrowed as an SBA 7(a) or bank loan at 11% over 5 years, about $2,330 a month.
The trade's published range, before the months it takes to pay its way: $26,000–$108,629. Playground 'How much does it cost to open a child care business': home-based (≤10 children) $26,000–$75,900; small centre (~10 children) $58,729–$108,629 — both including lease and one to three months' staff wages; Procare/Brightwheel $10k–$50k (sim-launch-costs.ts)
How much does it cost to start a daycare or nursery?
About $117,000 all in ($46,900–$335,000) for a small one, my own premises, in an American city. To open: Indoor furniture, cribs, cots, kitchen appliances $12,000; Outdoor play equipment $8,000; Safety work, fencing, security system $2,000; Toys, books, art supplies, rest mats $3,500; Computer, printer, first aid, cleaning kit $3,000; Licence, inspections, background checks $1,000; CPR and first-aid training $300; Insurance, first year $5,000; Sign, website, flyers $2,000; Forming the company $800; Lease deposit $5,500; Rent while you fit out, before opening $2,750 — $45,900. To keep going for the a year it typically takes to break even: running costs while sales build $12,200; rent while sales build $16,500; your own living costs until it can pay you $42,700 — $71,500. The trade's published startup range is $26,000–$108,629 (Playground 'How much does it cost to open a child care business': home-based (≤10 children) $26,000–$75,900; small centre (~10 children) $58,729–$108,629 — both including lease and one to three months' staff wages; Procare/Brightwheel $10k–$50k (sim-launch-costs.ts)), which leaves the months before it pays its way out.
What does SparkTower's simulator pay to open it?
The simulator pays the one-off opening costs before the first customer — the running costs and the founder's living it plays month by month: Equipment, furniture, safety work $15,000; Lease deposit (two months' rent) $1,500; Rent while you fit out, before opening (one month) $750; Licensing, inspections, background checks $2,000; Insurance $2,000; Forming the company $1,000; Opening marketing $1,000. A small licensed day-care: $10k–$50k for a home or small centre (Procare and Brightwheel childcare startup guides). Plus the lease: a deposit of about two months' rent (two to three is usual for a first US tenant, and restaurant landlords ask for at least two — Aquila Commercial; REBusiness, restaurant lease counsel), and rent through the fit-out before the doors open (restaurants usually win three to six months free during a build-out, often used up by permits before work starts — NYC restaurant lease counsel, DHC Legal).
How much of that do you keep?
$15,000 of it — the kit, fit-out or stock it bought — is still yours afterwards, something a buyer would pay for and a lender would lend against; the other $8,250 is spent.
What if my own money doesn't cover it?
With $10,000 of your own you would be about $107,000 short. Borrowed as an SBA 7(a) or bank loan at 11% over 5 years, that is about $2,330 a month. Most founders borrow the rest. A small-business term loan runs about 11% a year over 5 years (SBA 7(a) loans are the prime rate plus 3 to 6.5 points), repaid every month from the start — before the business has found its customers. In SparkTower's daycare or nursery simulator the founder starts with $45,000 of their own money; the launch costs come out of it and leave $21,750 to trade on, with nothing borrowed.
Can you start a daycare or nursery with no money?
Not in full: lenders want the owner to put in about 20% (the SBA's own floor for a start-up is 10%), and lend against the kit, fit-out and stock a launch buys, not its marketing or a software build. What a founder with nothing does is open smaller — licensed family child care in the home — on about $6,500 of essentials (safety work and equipment $4,000; licensing, inspections and background checks $1,000; insurance $1,200; forming the company $300), borrowed as a microloan (the SBA's are up to $50,000, at 8–13%) or, for a few thousand dollars, on a card at about 22%. The rest is bought once the business can afford it. A home day-care: $1k–$10k (Procare and Brightwheel home-daycare guides; state licensing fees $0–$500).
Will it earn the money back?
That depends on what you charge, how many customers you win and what your rivals do. The free daycare or nursery simulator pays these costs before it opens, borrows what the founder's cash doesn't cover, and plays the business forward against real rivals, so you can see whether it earns them back before you spend them.
What it costs to start others like it
- Cost to start a small-town business — $126,000 all in
- Cost to start a café — $155,000 all in
- Cost to start a restaurant — $223,000 all in
- Cost to start a salon or barber — $128,000 all in
- Cost to start a gym or studio — $208,000 all in
- Cost to start a food truck — $116,000 all in
- Cost to start a bakery — $145,000 all in
- Cost to start a retail shop — $160,000 all in
- Cost to start a cleaning service — $27,100 all in
- Cost to start a landscaping business — $53,900 all in
- Cost to start an auto repair garage — $156,000 all in
- Cost to start a plumbing or electrical trade — $55,400 all in
- Cost to start a construction company — $80,700 all in
- Cost to start a trucking company — $113,000 all in
- Cost to start a solar installer — $99,000 all in
- Cost to start a property developer — $937,000 all in