Research
Violations per inspection
VPI is the average number of countable citations issued each time a licensed provider is inspected. It is the fairest single number for comparing how often inspectors find problems — within a state, a city, or across places that publish comparable records.
Why VPI matters
Raw violation counts favor places with more providers or more inspections. A city with 200 citations might look “worse” than one with 40 — until you learn the first city had 400 inspections and the second had 20.
Dividing citations by inspections answers a simpler question: when an inspector shows up, how many problems do they write up? That rate helps parents compare a center to its city and state averages, helps journalists spot outliers, and helps policymakers see whether citation volume is rising or falling relative to inspection activity.
VPI is not a quality score or a safety grade. States write regulations differently, inspect on different schedules, and sometimes record findings differently. Use it as a starting point — then open the linked city or state page and read the underlying records.
41
States with violation records
1.16
Median state VPI
IL 9.60
Highest state VPI
TN 0.03
Lowest state VPI
States without countable violation history (roster-only or blocked inspection feeds) are excluded. City lists require at least 100 inspections in the past three years.
States ranked by VPI
Highest first · past 3 years* States marked with an asterisk often record one row per cited regulation or standard, which can inflate VPI relative to states that group findings differently. Prefer within-state comparisons for those jurisdictions. See methodology below.
City extremes
≥100 inspections · past 3 yearsHighest VPI
Lowest VPI
Low VPI does not mean “perfect.” It means fewer countable citations per visit in the window we measure. Always open the city page for context.
Methodology
Formula. VPI = countable violations ÷ inspections in the past three years. Advisories and technical-assistance notes are excluded. Only inspections with a recorded date in that window count.
State ranking. We use the statewide row in our VPI benchmarks table. Jurisdictions with zero countable violations or zero dated inspections in the window are omitted — typically roster-only portals or feeds that block public inspection history.
City ranking. Cities need at least 100 inspections in the past three years so tiny samples do not dominate the extremes. Only cities in states that appear in the state ranking are eligible.
Recording differences. Some states (PA, IL, NJ, OH, GA, WA) often emit one violation row per regulation checked. That can raise VPI versus states that bundle findings. Those states are marked with an asterisk; treat cross-state ranks as directional, not definitive.
Provenance. Every facility page links each finding to the official state document. National methods and limits: methodology. Related reports: violations by state and the transparency scorecard.
Suggested citation: KinderFax. “Violations per inspection (VPI).” Accessed [date]. https://kinderfax.com/research/violations-per-inspection. Source records originate with state licensing agencies.