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Poverty rate of female-headed families: U.S. states ranked (2025)

Measure: Poverty rate of female-headed families (%). 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: 21.6 (United States).

Small states, hard to see on the map:

DC 34.7 %
RI 17.3 %
DE 15.3 %
CT 17.1 %
NJ 14.8 %
MD 17.4 %
MA 17.8 %
VT 19 %
NH 15.3 %

Lowest: 14.2 to 17.9 %
Group 2: 17.9 to 20.7 %
Group 3: 20.7 to 22.4 %
Group 4: 22.4 to 25.5 %
Highest: 25.5 to 34.7 %

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.

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


1	District of Columbia	34.7
2	Louisiana	33.1
2	Mississippi	33.1
4	Kentucky	30.8
5	West Virginia	29.9
6	South Dakota	29.5
7	Alabama	28.7
8	Oklahoma	28.2
9	Arkansas	27.4
10	New Mexico	26.7
11	Alaska	25.5
12	Texas	24.5
13	Indiana	24.4
13	Ohio	24.4
15	Montana	24.2
15	Tennessee	24.2
17	South Carolina	23.8
18	Kansas	23.7
19	North Dakota	23.4
20	Michigan	23.3
21	Wyoming	22.4
22	Georgia	22.2
23	New York	22.1
23	North Carolina	22.1
25	Iowa	22
26	Missouri	21.9
27	Oregon	21.6
28	Pennsylvania	21.3
29	Maine	21.1
30	Wisconsin	20.8
31	Illinois	20.7
32	Minnesota	20.4
33	Idaho	20.2
34	Virginia	19.9
35	Nebraska	19.5
36	Vermont	19
37	Washington	18.9
38	Utah	18.8
39	Nevada	18.7
40	California	18
41	Florida	17.9
42	Massachusetts	17.8
43	Colorado	17.6
44	Maryland	17.4
45	Arizona	17.3
45	Rhode Island	17.3
47	Connecticut	17.1
48	Delaware	15.3
48	New Hampshire	15.3
50	New Jersey	14.8
51	Hawaii	14.2

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 female-headed families (%) (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-female-headed-families/

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