Center director vs child care director

The differences between center directors and child care directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a center director and a child care director. Additionally, a center director has an average salary of $106,505, which is higher than the $37,471 average annual salary of a child care director.

The top three skills for a center director include customer service, oversight and proficiency testing. The most important skills for a child care director are customer service, childhood, and critical care.

Center director vs child care director overview

	Center Director	Child Care Director
Yearly salary	$106,505	$37,471
Hourly rate	$51.20	$18.01
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	62,348	79,105
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does a center director do?

A center director is responsible for ensuring and maintaining the efficiency of child care facilities. Their role is to conduct various assessments, ensure that all aspects adhere to federal requirements, develop programs and supplemental activities in collaboration with child care experts, recruit and hire an efficient workforce, and train staff for professional development. Furthermore, a center director is also responsible for managing budgets, handling issues, meeting parents or guardians to discuss the scope of programs or any other concerns, and implementing policies and regulations.

What does a child care director do?

Child care directors manage the staff at a child care center. Their responsibilities include guiding and supporting their teaching staff and creating an environment where parents and children will feel secured and well taught. They provide their staff with constructive criticisms and suggest action plans on how they can improve. Directors continuously research new techniques to be used in educating, communicating, and rearing a child. To be an effective leader to the staff, parents, and children, they should have good communication skills and exceptional interpersonal skills.

Center director vs child care director salary

Center directors and child care directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Center Director	Child Care Director
Average salary	$106,505	$37,471
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $172,000	Between $24,000 And $57,000
Highest paying City	Newark, DE	Easton, PA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Pennsylvania
Best paying company	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	Anthem
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between center director and child care director education

There are a few differences between a center director and a child care director in terms of educational background:

	Center Director	Child Care Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common major	Business	Early Childhood Education
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Center director vs child care director demographics

Here are the differences between center directors' and child care directors' demographics:

	Center Director	Child Care Director
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 29.0% Female, 71.0%	Male, 16.9% Female, 83.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 4.4% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.7% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between center director and child care director duties and responsibilities

Center director example responsibilities.

Manage programs provide by SDE, DMH, DHS.
Design, implement and manage day-to-day operation of the 21st CCLC grant support afterschool program.
Manage daily operations of NAEYC accredit childcare center.
Manage daily operation for a family-own business with responsibility for sales, production, and administrative functions including payroll.
Manage delivery of quality early childhood education programs by establishing an environment of learning and maintaining the integrity of the programs.
Lead a staff of 76 FTE's.

Child care director example responsibilities.

Manage care for k-5 kids before and after school.
Establish cooperative relationship with state/regional USDA CACFP office.
Require to acquire CPR, first aid, a training.
Develop compliance and audit program for Medicare.
Certify medication & CPR, maintain portfolio for each student
Charge clients for daycare payments and merchandise using POS system.

Center director vs child care director skills

Common center director skills

Customer Service, 12%
Oversight, 8%
Proficiency Testing, 6%
Center Management, 6%
State Regulations, 6%
Federal Regulations, 6%

Common child care director skills

Customer Service, 19%
Childhood, 10%
Critical Care, 9%
Child Development, 8%
Quality Care, 7%
CPR, 6%

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Center Director
Center Director vs Child Care Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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