Established in 1965, Head Start promotes school readiness for children in low-income families by offering educational, nutritional, health, social, and other services. Since its inception, Head Start has served more than 37 million children birth to age 5 and their families. In 2020, Head Start was funded to serve 852,501 children and pregnant people in centers, family homes, and in family child care homes. The program is rooted in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the nation.

For term definitions and fact sheets from other years, see Head Start Program Annual Fact Sheets.

Download the PDF version.

Federal Budget

The U.S. Congress authorizes the amount of federal spending for Head Start each year. The Head Start program is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Head Start awards federal grants directly to public agencies, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, tribal governments, and school systems for operating Head Start programs in local communities.

Annual Federal Funding and Funded Enrollment by State

The Head Start program serves children, families, and pregnant people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and six U.S. territories. The table in this section presents the total actual funding awarded and funded enrollment of Head Start programs in each state and territory.

AIAN funding goes directly to AIAN tribal governments. AIAN programs operate in 26 states, and their services cross state lines in some cases. MSHS funding and funded enrollment are shown as one total, as this program supports children and families who receive services in various states during the year. Thus, federal funding and funded enrollment for these services cannot be attributed to individual states.

Program Year Statistics

Most grant recipients provided both Head Start and Early Head Start services during the 2019-2020 program year. 

• Head Start preschool services only: 28%
• Early Head Start (EHS) services only: 12%
• Both: 60%

Each year, Head Start programs are required to submit Program Information Reports (PIR) on the services they have provided to children and families throughout the program year, including child, family, and staff demographics and program characteristics.

Typically, this section of the annual Head Start fact sheet includes additional information about program services collected through the PIR. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in many program closures across the country during the 2019-2020 program year, the Office of Head Start did not require Head Start programs to submit the PIR. Please see the other annual fact sheets for additional data on program services. 

For a copy of the PIR form, detailed reports, instructions on how to access PIR data sets, and further information, visit the Program Information Report (PIR) page.

¹AIAN funding is awarded to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. For reference, the funding and enrollment has been split out by the state in which the tribe is headquartered. Some tribes serve children across state lines.

« Go to Head Start Program Annual Fact Sheets

Last Updated: September 26, 2022