Eagan, MN Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)

Home child care providers in Minnesota are licensed by the Department of Human Services (DHS) under Minnesota Statutes chapter 245A and Minnesota Rules chapter 9502. 'Family day care' means care for no more than 10 children at one time, of which no more than six may be under school age; the licensed capacity counts the provider's own children when present. 'Group family day care' means care for no more than 14 children at one time. Crucially for zoning, Minnesota law provides that a licensed family/group family day care serving 14 or fewer children is to be treated as a permitted single-family residential use of property for purposes of zoning and other land use regulations (Minn. Stat. 462.357 and 245A.14). That means Eagan must allow these licensed in-home day cares in residential zones and cannot impose conditions more restrictive than those placed on other residential uses, unless the conditions are necessary to protect health and safety. Because the use is a permitted residential use rather than an ordinary home occupation, the standard home occupation limits (such as the three-person cap) are not the controlling framework for a state-licensed day care; the DHS license sets the staffing, ratio, and group-size standards. Larger child care centers exceeding the 14-child family/group family thresholds are not in-home uses and fall under separate commercial zoning and licensing.