Guides · Published November 13, 2026

Adult day care in Texas: only 42 counties have a licensed center. Here’s where they are.

If you can’t find a licensed adult day care center near you, it may not be your search. For adult day care in Texas, the state’s own license directory lists 387 centers, and they sit in only 42 of the state’s 254 counties. One county, Hidalgo, has 130 of them. Large parts of Texas, including most of the Panhandle, West Texas, and East Texas, have none on the list.

What “adult day care” means in Texas

Texas calls licensed adult day care Day Activity and Health Services, or DAHS. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) says these centers were “previously called adult day care centers.”

Under state law, a DAHS facility serves four or more older adults or adults with disabilities during the day, but not overnight. HHSC says centers usually run Monday through Friday for adults 18 and older who live in the community. A licensed nurse must oversee the services. Services may include:

a noon meal and snacks,
nursing care and personal care,
physical rehabilitation,
social, educational, and recreational activities, and
transportation.

Texas law says no one may operate a DAHS facility without a license. HHSC inspects licensed centers every year and investigates complaints.

Where the licensed centers are

We counted every center on the HHSC directory of active licenses as of November 9, 2026.

County	Licensed centers
Hidalgo	130
Harris	49
Cameron	41
El Paso	24
Dallas	21
Bexar	20
Starr	14
Tarrant	11
Fort Bend	10
Galveston	7

Four Rio Grande Valley counties (Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr, and Willacy) have 187 centers, nearly half the state’s total. Meanwhile some big counties have very few. Travis County, home to Austin, has 2. Collin has 4, Denton has 2, and Williamson has 1.

The other 212 counties have no licensed center at all on the list.

Why the map looks like this

The state file shows where centers are. It doesn’t say why. So we won’t guess at reasons. What the data does show is that a family’s options depend heavily on where they live, and that a short drive into the next county can change the picture.

What to do if your county has none

Check neighboring counties. Use the county list to see which counties near you have a center, and ask about transportation. HHSC lists transportation among the services a center may provide, but the state file doesn’t say which ones or how far they go.
Search by city too. A center may be just over a county line. Try search with your city or ZIP code.
Ask your local HHS office. HHSC’s DAHS page says people with questions about eligibility should contact their local HHS office.
Ask about other day programs. Daytime programs such as senior centers are not licensed as DAHS, so they won’t appear here, and they may not offer nursing care. Ask what they provide.

How to check a center’s license

Every center on this site shows its license number, license dates, and licensed capacity from the state file. To confirm a license is still active, or to look at inspection history, use HHSC’s TULIP provider search. If something doesn’t match, ask the center about it before you enroll.

How to use this directory

Start from your county or your city. Each listing shows the address, phone number, licensed capacity, and program type. The state file doesn’t include hours, meals, prices, or which payments a center accepts, so call and ask. The checklist on our home page has questions worth asking on a first visit.

This guide is general information, not medical or legal advice. Counts come from the HHSC directory as of November 9, 2026; centers open and close, so check TULIP for the latest.