Childcare Landscape Study - Flipbook - Page 65
Davidson County Child Care Landscape Study Results
8
center-based programs in the region, approximately one-third of educators employed leave
their positions within 12 months.
Assessing turnover across individual centers shows how prevalent high turnover is in greater
Davidson County. Using a 20 percent annual turnover threshold, a benchmark used in prior
early childhood workforce research to indicate high turnover, we estimate that over half
(57%) of center-based programs in the region experienced high turnover in the past year
(see Figure 4).26,27,28
Figure 4: Annual ECE Workforce Turnover Rates Within Child Care Centers (N=246)
37 Centers
(15%)
44 Centers
(18%)
Turnover Rate
Within Center
51%+ Turnover
21-50% Turnover
1-20% Turnover
No Turnover
68 Centers
(28%)
97 Centers
(39%)
Source: Davidson County Child Care Provider Experience Survey. The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, 2025. Notes:
Estimates were extrapolated to represent the estimated full population of 246 center-based programs, including 6 Head Start
programs. Annual turnover was calculated for each program based on director-reported staffing changes and then grouped
into categories. A 20% annual rate is frequently cited as a threshold for high turnover in ECE research; 51%+ reflects
markedly elevated turnover.
Turnover also varies across neighborhood contexts. Centers located in higher-income
communities (average income above $152,000) experience an average annual turnover rate of
22 percent. In contrast, the average center in middle-income neighborhoods loses
approximately half (50%) of its educators annually, and centers in lower-income
neighborhoods lose approximately 41 percent of their educators annually.
When asked in the Child Care Provider Survey which factors would help reduce turnover
