Bernalillo County, NM Home Business: Home Daycare (2026)
Key Facts
- Children allowed
- 3 to 6 children
- Zoning status
- Conditional use, not by-right
- Zones it applies in
- A-1, A-2, R-1, R-2, M-H
- Approval required
- Zoning Administrator conditional-use permit
- Max criminal penalty
- $300 fine, 90 days jail
Summary
In unincorporated Bernalillo County, caring for three to six children in your home is a zoning-defined "Family Day Care Home" that needs Zoning Administrator conditional-use approval, not just a license. Albuquerque runs its own separate development code.
Family Day Care Home. An occupied dwelling in which a person provides care, services, and supervision for at least three but not more than six children for a period less than 24 hours of any day. The residents providers children who are age six or older shall not be counted for this definition.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 92).
Full Breakdown
The county's 1973 Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance defines a Family Day Care Home as an occupied dwelling where someone cares for three to six children (the provider's own children age six or older don't count) for less than 24 hours a day. That use is listed as a conditional use, not a by-right use, in the A-1, A-2, R-1, R-2 and M-H residential zones, meaning the Zoning Administrator must approve it under the ordinance's conditional-use procedure before you can open. Caring for seven or more children instead makes the home a Day Care Center, a separate, more heavily reviewed conditional use. This only reaches unincorporated county land; Albuquerque, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque and Tijeras zone home daycares under their own codes.
Violations & Fines
Operating without the required conditional-use approval is a zoning misdemeanor: up to a $300 fine and 90 days in county jail, with each day a separate offense, plus civil injunction to force abatement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a home daycare anywhere in unincorporated Bernalillo County?
Does this zoning rule apply if I live in Albuquerque?
What if I want to care for more than six children?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bernalillo County
Compare Bernalillo County to another location·View the New Mexico home business overview
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