How the inspection score works
Texas inspects licensed centers at least once a year and investigates reports. Each rule an inspector finds broken is recorded as a citation with a state-assigned risk level.
For each center we add its citations since Oct 1, 2021, weighted by risk, and divide by inspections in the same period.
| State risk level | Weight |
|---|---|
| High | 4 |
| Medium High | 3 |
| Medium | 2 |
| Medium Low | 1 |
| Low | 0.5 |
That rate is ranked against all 9,147 Texas licensed centers with at least 3 inspections (statewide median 2.00). “Better than 70%” means 70% of Texas centers have a higher weighted citation rate. Center size has almost no relationship with this rate, so larger centers are not penalized for size.
Labels: 75% and up “Fewer citations than most”, 40–74% “About typical”, 15–39% “More citations than most”, below 15% “Among the most cited”.
The score does not measure teaching quality or anything an inspector did not record. Visit the center and ask about any citation that concerns you.
Older records
Texas only publishes about five years of inspection history, and older visits disappear from the state’s website as time passes. Since October 1, 2026, Daycare Record has saved every inspection and citation the state publishes, every day. When a record ages off the state’s site, it stays on the center’s page under “Older records.” Older records are shown for history only and are not counted in the score. A record the state removes while it is still within its five-year window is never shown, because it may have been corrected or overturned.