Ohio Childcare Square Footage Requirements (2026)

Ohio child care centers must provide 'at least thirty-five square feet of usable wall-to-wall indoor floor space for each child' (excluding bathrooms, hallways, storage rooms, and areas not used for child care), plus 'at least sixty square feet of usable space per child using the area at one time' of outdoor play space (OAC 5180:2-12-11, eff. 10/29/2021).

OAC 5180:2-12-11, eff. 10/29/2021

Ohio licenses two family-home tiers: a Type B family child care home serves one to seven children at one time with no more than three under age two, and a Type A family child care home serves eight to fourteen children (or four to fourteen if four or more are under age two)

or four to fourteen if four or more are under age two

under the ratio rule, one caregiver may care for a maximum of seven children with no more than three under age two, so a Type A home requires at least two caregivers - 'one staff member: seven or fewer children, no more than three under two years of age' and 'two staff members: eight to fourteen children' (ORC 5104.01

ORC 5104.01

Ohio sets statutory maximum group sizes for child care centers by age: 12 for infants under 18 months, 14 for toddlers 18-30 months, 16 for toddlers 30 months to 3 years, 24 for 3-year-olds, 28 for 4-5-year-olds (not in school), 36 for school-age (kindergarten through 10 years), and 40 for ages 11-14 (ORC 5104.033

kindergarten through 10 years

OAC 5180:2-12-18 Appendix A).

ORC 5104.033

How much indoor space per child does Ohio require?

Ohio child care centers must provide 'at least thirty-five square feet of usable wall-to-wall indoor floor space for each child' (excluding bathrooms, hallways, storage rooms, and areas not used for child care), plus 'at least sixty square feet of usable space per child using the area at one time' of outdoor play space (OAC 5180:2-12-11, eff. 10/29/2021).

Does Ohio require outdoor play space too?

Ohio child care centers must provide 'at least thirty-five square feet of usable wall-to-wall indoor floor space for each child' (excluding bathrooms, hallways, storage rooms, and areas not used for child care), plus 'at least sixty square feet of usable space per child using the area at one time' of outdoor play space (OAC 5180:2-12-11, eff. 10/29/2021).

What space is excluded when calculating capacity in Ohio?

Most states exclude hallways, bathrooms, kitchens, offices, and storage from the usable indoor activity space used to compute capacity. Confirm the exact exclusions in the cited Ohio rule above.