College Station, TX Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

The statute keys on regular care, provided for compensation, in the caretaker's own residence. A family home providing that care for three or fewer children shall list with the commission; at that size, registration is available but optional, since the statute says the home may register. Once the home cares for four or more children, registration stops being optional: the home shall register with the commission. In both counts, children related to the caretaker are excluded, so watching your own children or other relatives alongside paying families does not push you across the line. A family home that provides care exclusively for related children, in any number, is not required to be listed or registered at all. Once issued, a registration remains valid until it expires, is revoked, or is surrendered.

The state credential is not the whole picture in College Station. Home-based childcare here is also subject to local zoning, and state licensing agencies conduct regular inspections of operating homes. Day to day, pickup and drop-off traffic must not create neighborhood disruption, which is the friction point most likely to draw complaints on a residential street.