Families who are thinking about a move often ask how different states compare for children’s well-being, beyond just school reputations or crime rates. The 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book brings together sixteen indicators of child well-being and shows that some states consistently give children much stronger starts than others. Looking at those rankings side by side makes it easier to see where conditions for children are improving, where they are lagging, and what that might mean for families planning a relocation.
Key Points From The 2025 KIDS COUNT Rankings
- Top states overall: New Hampshire ranks first for child well-being in 2025, followed by Vermont, Massachusetts, Utah, and Minnesota, reflecting strong performance in economic stability, education, health, and family indicators.
- Bottom states overall: New Mexico, Louisiana, and Mississippi sit at the bottom of the rankings, with particularly weak scores in economic well-being and education, and persistent challenges in health and family stability.
- Regional patterns: New England continues to dominate the top of the list, while many southern and southwestern states cluster near the bottom for child outcomes, even when some of those same states look attractive on cost-of-living or tax metrics.
- Mixed national progress: Since 2019, seven of the sixteen indicators improved, six worsened, and three stayed about the same, with gains in health coverage and poverty but setbacks in academic achievement and youth connection to school and work.
Best States For Children’s Well-Being In 2025
The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT index combines sixteen data points into an overall score and rank for each state. The top ten states in 2025 form a fairly consistent group of places that pair low child poverty and strong schools with good health coverage and relatively stable families.
| Rank | State | Why It Ranks High For Kids |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Hampshire | New Hampshire holds the top overall spot in 2025, continuing a long run near the top of KIDS COUNT rankings. Children there benefit from relatively low poverty rates, strong high school graduation rates, high rates of health insurance coverage, and safer neighborhoods compared with most of the country. Advocates note that New Hampshire’s small size and long-term investments in health and education systems create a stable foundation for children, although there are still gaps for kids of color and in lower income families. |
| 2 | Vermont | Vermont ranks second overall, with particularly strong results in the family and community domain, including relatively low rates of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods and strong engagement with early childhood supports. Health measures for children, including insured rates and access to preventive care, are also high, and the state has invested in supports for mental health and early intervention. |
| 3 | Massachusetts | Massachusetts rounds out the top three with exceptional education outcomes for children, including some of the highest reading and math proficiency rates in the country. The state also benefits from strong health systems that keep child uninsured rates low, although housing costs and racial disparities remain concerns that advocates highlight even within a generally strong picture. |
| 4 | Utah | Utah places fourth overall, driven by relatively strong economic well-being scores, higher parental employment, and a large share of children living in families with steady work. Education indicators have been more mixed over time, but Utah still performs better than many states on graduation and some achievement measures, with a young population that keeps children’s issues high on the policy agenda. |
| 5 | Minnesota | Minnesota ranks fifth for overall child well-being, with strong averages in economic stability and health. However, advocates emphasize that statewide success masks deep racial disparities in outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and Latino children, especially in education and maternal and infant health. That combination of high overall rank and large equity gaps means Minnesota is both a positive and cautionary example for families and policymakers. |
Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation – 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book and state-level summaries for New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Utah, and Minnesota.
What The KIDS COUNT Index Measures
The KIDS COUNT index is built from sixteen indicators grouped into four main domains: economic well-being, education, health, crime rates, and family and community. This structure allows comparisons between states on specific aspects of children’s lives as well as an overall composite ranking.
Economic indicators include the share of children in poverty, children whose parents lack secure employment, and children living in households with high housing cost burdens. Education indicators cover preschool participation, fourth grade reading proficiency, eighth grade math proficiency, and on-time high school graduation. Health indicators track children without health insurance, child and teen death rates, low-birthweight babies, and other basic measures. Family and community indicators focus on children living in single-parent families, kids in high-poverty neighborhoods, teen birth rates, and related measures of stability and support.
Between 2019 and 2025, the data show a mixed national picture. The foundation reports improvements in seven of the sixteen indicators, such as lower child poverty rates, fewer kids living in high-poverty areas, and declining teen birth rates. At the same time, six indicators worsened and three stayed about the same, with academic performance slipping and the share of teens not in school or working increasing, especially in the wake of the pandemic and its disruptions.
States Struggling Most With Children’s Well-Being
At the lower end of the rankings, several states face long-standing, structural challenges that show up across almost every part of the KIDS COUNT index. For families, these rankings do not mean that no children are thriving in those states, but they do indicate that on average, kids there face higher hurdles in health, education, and economic security.
| Rank | State | Key Challenges For Children |
|---|---|---|
| 49 | Louisiana | Louisiana ranks forty-ninth in overall child well-being in the 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book, falling near the bottom in economic well-being, education, and health measures. The state has high child poverty rates, lower test scores, and higher percentages of children without consistent access to resources, with advocates noting that racial and geographic disparities compound these challenges. |
| 50 | New Mexico | New Mexico ranks fiftieth for child well-being in 2025, continuing a pattern of struggling across multiple domains. Reports highlight that children there face persistent economic hardship, lower academic performance, and gaps in health outcomes, particularly for Native and Hispanic communities. Even with some policy efforts, the overall composite score leaves New Mexico at the bottom of the list. |
| 48 | Mississippi | Mississippi appears near the bottom of the rankings, with the foundation and local advocates pointing to high child poverty, weaker school performance data, and health challenges that start early in life. While there have been modest gains in some indicators, such as teen births, the state still lags well behind national averages on most measures of child well-being. |
Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation – 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book and state advocacy summaries for Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi.
Regional Patterns In Children’s Outcomes
When the KIDS COUNT ranks are grouped by region, some clear patterns appear. New England and parts of the Upper Midwest dominate the top of the list, while many southern and southwestern states cluster in the bottom third.
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and other northeastern states benefit from long-term investments in education systems, higher rates of health coverage, and generally lower child poverty than the national average. In contrast, states such as New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Arizona continue to face entrenched poverty, under-resourced schools, and gaps in access to health care, especially for children of color and rural families.
Some states fall in the middle with mixed stories. Washington, for example, has seen its ranking slip over time even though average incomes are high, partly because large numbers of children still face housing instability and inequities in educational achievement. Minnesota ranks near the top overall but has some of the widest racial gaps in the country, illustrating that a high composite ranking does not mean that all groups of children share equally in that success.
What These Rankings Mean For Families Considering A Move
For parents who are thinking about relocating, the KIDS COUNT rankings are a useful starting point but not a complete answer. A state’s overall position tells you something about the policy environment and broad conditions for children, yet day-to-day experience still depends heavily on the specific community, school district, and neighborhood you choose.
A high-ranking state often signals stronger public school systems overall, better access to pediatric care, and a larger set of safety nets for families in tough times. At the same time, individual districts inside that state can still be under-resourced or crowded, and housing in the highest performing districts may be expensive. On the other side, families sometimes find excellent schools and supportive communities in states that rank lower overall, especially in well-resourced suburbs or smaller cities that buck statewide averages.
Because of this, many child advocacy groups suggest using KIDS COUNT as a way to narrow options and then layering in local research. That might include looking at district-level reading and math scores, graduation rates, and absenteeism, checking pediatrician and children’s hospital access in the area, and paying attention to local data on child poverty and neighborhood resources. When families pair statewide context from KIDS COUNT with on-the-ground research, they usually end up with a clearer picture of how a move might affect their children’s opportunities.
Planning Checklist For Evaluating States By Children’s Well-Being
State-Level Snapshot
- Check the most recent KIDS COUNT ranking for each state on your shortlist to see how they compare on overall child well-being and on the four domains of economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.
- Look at trend arrows or multi-year graphs when available, so you can see whether conditions for children in that state have been improving, holding steady, or slipping over the last five years.
Local School And Health Checks
- Within each state, review district and school level data on reading and math proficiency, graduation rates, and chronic absenteeism for the specific schools your children would attend, rather than relying on state averages.
- Map out pediatric care, children’s hospitals, and mental health resources near likely neighborhoods, to make sure access lines up with your family’s needs and any ongoing conditions your children have.
Neighborhood And Community Fit
- Look at local data on child poverty rates, single-parent households, and neighborhood safety around specific areas you are considering, since statewide averages can hide wide variation between communities.
- Talk with current families about their experiences with schools, healthcare access, extracurricular activities, and overall quality of life for kids in that specific area.
FAQ
Why do New England states always rank high for child well-being?
New England states like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts benefit from long-term investments in public education, higher median incomes that reduce child poverty, strong healthcare systems with high insurance coverage rates, and relatively low rates of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods or single-parent households.
Can families find good schools in low-ranking states?
Yes, many low-ranking states have excellent individual school districts, particularly in well-funded suburbs or smaller cities that outperform statewide averages. Statewide rankings reflect average conditions across all communities, so local research remains essential regardless of overall position.
What changed most between 2019 and 2025 KIDS COUNT rankings?
Academic performance declined in reading and math proficiency after pandemic school disruptions, while the share of teens not in school or working increased. At the same time, child poverty rates fell, health insurance coverage improved, and teen birth rates continued their long-term decline.
Do these rankings account for racial disparities in child outcomes?
The main KIDS COUNT rankings use overall state averages, but many state reports highlight racial gaps. Minnesota, for example, ranks fifth overall but shows some of the nation’s largest disparities between white children and Black, Indigenous, or Latino children in education and health outcomes.
How often does KIDS COUNT update its rankings?
The Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the full KIDS COUNT Data Book annually in June, using the most recent available data (typically from 1-2 years prior). States and local advocates then publish their own analyses through the summer and fall.
