The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Locations
United States

Location

Choose location type
  • Choose locations
Choose location comparison

  • Choose time frames
    To view all years at one time, download raw data.
Choose data types
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Learn More >

Change Indicator

Family and community scores and rankings in United States

  • Detailed
  • Sort / Rank
loading...

Definition and Source

PROVIDER

Definition

The KIDS COUNT index is organized into four key domains: Economic Well-Being, Education, Health, and Family and Community. The Family and Community domain reflects key indicators of children's family and community context, including factors such as family structure, parental engagement, and neighborhood poverty. The indicators are consistently and regularly measured, which allows for legitimate comparisons across states and over time.

The Family and Community Domain score is a score computed for each state, based on the indicators within the domain. The score ranges from 0 to 1,000 and is calculated using this formula: 1,000 – [(Value – Minimum Value) / (Maximum Value – Minimum Value)]*1,000. The minimum value is set as the best state value for each indicator based on data from 2019 and the maximum value is set as the worst state value for each indicator based on data from 2019. The indicator scores are averaged to produce a single domain score for each state, with all measures equally weighted.

A score of 1,000 represents the best family and community outcomes observed for each indicator in 2019, rather than a finish line. A state with a score of 1,000 still has room for improvement. Likewise, a score of 500 does not mean a state is doing half as well as one scoring 1,000, but it does indicate substantial room for improvement. Changes in scores over time — up to the latest available data, largely 2024 — reflect real changes in children's family and community outcomes, not shifts in how states compare to one another. The new scores allow states to see their own progress or decline, in addition to how they compare to others. The rankings are based on the scores. Learn more about the new methodology at https://www.aecf.org/resources/the-new-kids-count-index-methodology.

Data Source

Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data gathered for the 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book.

The 4 indicators of child family and community well-being are derived from the following government statistical agencies:

  • Children in single-parent families U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
  • Children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
  • Children living in high-poverty areas U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
  • Teen births per 1,000 Birth statistics: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics. Population statistics: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates.


Notes

The year represents the target reference year — the most recent year for which estimates were available for most indicators — though some indicators may reflect prior (or more recent) years based on source availability.

For the 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book, most estimates are from 2024; some indicators reflect 2023–24 or 2020–24 data or the most current year available from each data source.

N.R. Not ranked.

Last Updated

May 2026