2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book: 2026 State Trends in Child Well-Being

Posted by The Annie E. Casey Foundation on June 23, 2026

Children’s wellbeing declined nationally from 2019 to 2024, with kids in 29 states faring worse than before the COVID pandemic, according to a new report. Explore the 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book, with child well-being state-level data in four areas: economic stability, education, health, and family/community.

New this year, the enhanced KIDS COUNT index includes both rankings and scores, offering a more complete picture of child well-being. While rankings show how states compare with one another, scores (ranging from 0 to 1,000) show how far apart states are and offer a way to track progress since 2019 — the last full year before the pandemic.

Because state policies and conditions shape children’s opportunities, a child’s future still depends in large part on where they grow up.


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