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Poverty rate of families with children: U.S. states ranked (2025)

Measure: Poverty rate of families with children (%). All 50 states and District of Columbia with data in Family poverty rate by family type 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: 12.5 (United States).

Small states, hard to see on the map:

DC 17.7 %
RI 11.8 %
DE 10 %
CT 8.9 %
NJ 8.3 %
MD 10.1 %
MA 9.4 %
VT 7.9 %
NH 6.6 %

Lowest: 6.6 to 9.7 %
Group 2: 9.7 to 10.7 %
Group 3: 10.7 to 12.3 %
Group 4: 12.3 to 14.7 %
Highest: 14.7 to 21.6 %

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.

Note: ACS estimates; rates for family types in small states have wide margins of error.


1	Mississippi	21.6
2	Louisiana	21.2
3	District of Columbia	17.7
3	Kentucky	17.7
3	New Mexico	17.7
3	West Virginia	17.7
7	Arkansas	17.5
8	Alabama	16.6
9	Oklahoma	16.3
10	South Carolina	15.1
11	New York	14.7
12	Michigan	13.9
12	Ohio	13.9
12	Tennessee	13.9
15	Georgia	13.7
16	Texas	13.6
17	North Carolina	13.4
18	Indiana	13.1
19	Alaska	12.7
20	Nevada	12.5
21	Pennsylvania	12.3
22	Arizona	12.1
23	Illinois	11.9
24	Oregon	11.8
24	Rhode Island	11.8
26	Missouri	11.6
27	California	11.5
27	Florida	11.5
27	South Dakota	11.5
30	Montana	11.3
31	Kansas	10.7
32	Wyoming	10.6
33	Washington	10.4
34	North Dakota	10.2
34	Wisconsin	10.2
36	Maryland	10.1
37	Delaware	10
37	Maine	10
39	Iowa	9.9
40	Nebraska	9.8
41	Virginia	9.7
42	Idaho	9.5
43	Massachusetts	9.4
44	Hawaii	9.1
45	Connecticut	8.9
46	Minnesota	8.4
47	New Jersey	8.3
48	Utah	8.2
49	Colorado	8.1
50	Vermont	7.9
51	New Hampshire	6.6

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, Table S1702: Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months of Families. Reference period: 2025.

Cite this ranking

U.S. states ranked by poverty rate of families with children (%) (2025). Data: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 1-year estimates, Table S1702; rank derived by Quadranac. Data last updated 2026-11-09. https://quadranac.com/rankings/us-states-by-poverty-rate-of-families-with-children/

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