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Poverty rate for children under 5: U.S. states ranked (2025)

Measure: Poverty rate for children under 5 (%). All 50 states and District of Columbia with data in Poverty rate by age by state, ranked from highest to lowest. Reference period: 2025.

Licence: Public domain (U.S. federal government work).
Data last updated: 2026-11-09

Download full table CSV Source: U.S. Census Bureau (opens in a new tab)

National value: 15.5 (United States).

Small states, hard to see on the map:

DC 22.3 %
RI 10.8 %
DE 13.2 %
CT 10.1 %
NJ 10.4 %
MD 11.5 %
MA 12.4 %
VT 7.5 %
NH 6.8 %

Lowest: 6.8 to 11.3 %
Group 2: 11.3 to 13.2 %
Group 3: 13.2 to 15.8 %
Group 4: 15.8 to 18.6 %
Highest: 18.6 to 26.7 %

The map is a visual summary; every value is in the table below, which is the keyboard and screen-reader path. Groups are quintiles of the values shown (a derived grouping). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain), simplified. Alaska and Hawaii are shown as insets, not to scale.

Rank is derived by Quadranac: 1 = highest value; ties share a rank. Values are as published in the source table.


1	Louisiana	26.7
2	Mississippi	24.5
3	Arkansas	23.4
4	District of Columbia	22.3
5	Alabama	21.5
6	Kentucky	21.2
7	Oklahoma	20.5
8	West Virginia	20.1
9	New Mexico	18.9
10	Alaska	18.6
10	Georgia	18.6
12	South Carolina	18.4
13	Ohio	18.2
14	New York	17.9
14	Texas	17.9
16	Nevada	17
17	Michigan	16.9
18	Tennessee	16.7
19	Indiana	16.5
20	North Carolina	15.9
21	Missouri	15.8
22	Pennsylvania	15.7
23	Oregon	15.5
24	Montana	15.4
25	Florida	14.4
25	South Dakota	14.4
27	Nebraska	14.1
28	Illinois	13.7
29	Arizona	13.3
29	California	13.3
31	Delaware	13.2
31	Maine	13.2
33	Wisconsin	13.1
34	Washington	13
35	Iowa	12.9
36	Idaho	12.5
37	Massachusetts	12.4
38	Kansas	12
39	Minnesota	11.6
40	Maryland	11.5
41	Hawaii	11.3
42	Rhode Island	10.8
43	Colorado	10.4
43	New Jersey	10.4
45	Virginia	10.3
46	Connecticut	10.1
47	Wyoming	9.2
48	Utah	9
49	North Dakota	8.9
50	Vermont	7.5
51	New Hampshire	6.8

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Table S1701: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months. Reference period: 2025.

Cite this ranking

U.S. states ranked by poverty rate for children under 5 (%) (2025). Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 1-year estimates, Table S1701; rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-11-09. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-poverty-rate-for-children-under-5/

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