Maryland Daycare Ratios: Staff-to-Child Ratios and Group Sizes by Age

Center ratios in Maryland come from COMAR 13A.16.08.03, the staffing and ratio rule of the Office of Child Care, the Division of Early Childhood arm of the Maryland State Department of Education that licenses child care centers.

The rule pairs a staff-to-child ratio with a maximum group size for each age band: infants and toddlers at 1:3, 2-year-olds at 1:6, 3- and 4-year-olds at 1:10, and ages 5 and older at 1:15, each with the group cap shown in the table on this page.

The two youngest bands carry the tightest staffing in the table: at 1:3, an infant group of 6 runs with 2 staff, and a toddler group of 9 runs with 3.

Group size is the cap that sits next to each ratio: the largest number of children the rule allows in one group.

Infants and toddlers share the same 1:3 ratio but not the same cap — an infant group stops at 6, a toddler group at 9.

The cap is 12 for 2-year-olds, 20 for 3- and 4-year-olds and 30 for ages 5 and older.

The rule also writes exceptions into the table for approved educational programs: in an approved program such as a nursery school operating during the school day, 3- and 4-year-olds may be grouped at 1:12 with a maximum of 24, and separately an approved Montessori school may exceed a staff/child ratio or group size requirement by up to one-third.

Mixed-age preschool groups get their own limits: a mixed-age preschool group may not exceed 20 children, and a group of 13-20 may include no more than six 2-year-olds.

Our research did not confirm which ratio applies to a mixed-age group as a whole.

Maryland sets a child's ratio age by the most recent birthday alone, so a room's mix shifts as children get older.

On nap time, our research did not confirm a separate nap-time staffing rule for Maryland centers.

MSDE's Licensing Branch runs 13 regional licensing offices, and your regional office is the place to confirm what staffing applies to a mixed-age group or while a group naps.

The ratio table answers how many staff a room needs; our research did not confirm a Maryland rule listing which staff positions count toward that number.

The staffing rules our research captured set the frame around the question: center aides must be at least 16 and work under direct supervision, and 16 is the minimum age for any center staff member.

Director coverage is a separate rule — a Maryland center's director must be present for at least half of the center's operating hours each week.

Confirm how an aide, floater or substitute applies against a specific room's count with your regional Office of Child Care before you build a schedule around one.

Family child care homes under COMAR 13A.15 run to a capacity number: the rules our research captured set a maximum of 8 children rather than a staff-to-child ratio.

Maryland registers — rather than licenses — family child care homes, and a registered home may have at most 8 children, no more than 4 of them under age 2.

Caring for more than 2 children under 2 takes Office approval and an additional adult, and the provider's own children under 6 count toward capacity.

That cap, plus the additional-adult rule for a heavier under-2 mix, is the staffing picture our research captured for a COMAR 13A.15 home.

Large family child care homes follow a separate chapter, COMAR 13A.18, and our research did not capture their capacity, so ask your regional office before planning one.

Read as arithmetic, the table becomes a hiring grid.

An infant group at the 6-child cap needs 2 staff on the floor at 1:3.

A toddler group at 9 needs 3 at the same ratio.

A 2-year-old room at 12 needs 2 at 1:6, a preschool room at 20 needs 2 at 1:10, and a school-age group at 30 needs 2 at 1:15.

Mixed ages add a second check: a mixed-age preschool group of 13-20 can include no more than six 2-year-olds.

This is the rule's arithmetic, not a staffing plan — confirm any schedule you build, including the director's on-site hours, with your regional Office of Child Care.