1,262 California daycares were cited for lead in their drinking water
Since 2020, California has required licensed child care centers in buildings constructed before 2010 to test every drinking and food-preparation faucet for lead. We counted every lead-in-water citation in the state’s inspection records since February 2021. Data through Oct 2, 2026; updated daily.
Key findings
1,262 of California’s 13,317 licensed child care centers (9%) were cited since February 2021 because water from at least one faucet or fountain tested above the state’s lead action level of 5 parts per billion.
Another 1,084 centers were cited for not testing their water for lead as state law requires. In all, 2,269 centers (17%) had at least one lead-in-water citation.
Among counties with at least 150 centers, San Francisco County (12% of centers) and Fresno County (12%) had the highest share of centers cited for lead above the action level.
Most of these citations came in 2023, as centers in older buildings completed their first round of testing.
Share of centers cited for lead above the action level, larger counties
Counties with at least 150 licensed centers. Share of currently licensed centers with at least one citation under the lead action level rule (22 CCR §101700.3).
County details
| County | Licensed centers | Cited for lead above action level | Share | Cited for not testing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco County | 400 | 50 | 12% | 96 |
| Fresno County | 365 | 45 | 12% | 17 |
| Kern County | 221 | 25 | 11% | 6 |
| San Bernardino County | 544 | 60 | 11% | 80 |
| Riverside County | 537 | 59 | 11% | 53 |
| Los Angeles County | 3,156 | 324 | 10% | 270 |
| San Mateo County | 397 | 40 | 10% | 105 |
| Sacramento County | 609 | 59 | 10% | 6 |
| Stanislaus County | 156 | 15 | 10% | 8 |
| Sonoma County | 156 | 15 | 10% | 4 |
| San Diego County | 1,093 | 103 | 9% | 50 |
| Alameda County | 687 | 63 | 9% | 43 |
| Santa Clara County | 716 | 65 | 9% | 29 |
| Orange County | 1,076 | 86 | 8% | 124 |
| Contra Costa County | 505 | 39 | 8% | 21 |
| San Joaquin County | 241 | 17 | 7% | 1 |
| Ventura County | 273 | 11 | 4% | 3 |
| Placer County | 185 | 7 | 4% | 4 |
| Santa Barbara County | 165 | 4 | 2% | 1 |
What the rules require
Assembly Bill 2370 (2018) requires licensed child care centers in buildings built before January 1, 2010 to test their water for lead (first test due before January 1, 2023, then every five years). Under the state’s written directives, any outlet testing above 5 parts per billion is an “action level exceedance”: its water is deemed not safe to drink and the center must respond right away, typically by shutting off or replacing the fixture and retesting. Family child care homes are not covered (CDSS PIN 21-21-CCP).
What this does and doesn’t show
A citation records that an outlet tested above the action level or that testing was missing; it does not mean children drank the water, and many centers fixed the outlet and passed a retest within weeks. Centers in newer buildings are not required to test, so they rarely appear. Each center’s page on Daycare Record shows its lead citations under “Building & playground safety”, with the state’s own description.
Using these numbers: the figures come from public state inspection records and may be quoted with a link to this page (https://daycarerecord.com/reports/california-daycare-lead-in-water/). Every county and center mentioned has its own page on Daycare Record with the underlying records.