Pennsylvania ranks 18th in child well-being in the 2026 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation that looks at how children are faring across the country.
The report shows Pennsylvania making slight progress or holding steady in several areas, but Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is urging state and federal leaders to make sure that progress is not reversed.
For the first time, the Data Book includes a comprehensive score, from 0 to 1,000, in addition to state rankings. The score tracks 16 indicators across four domains: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors. Pennsylvania scored 626, above the national score of 547.
Pennsylvania improved among the indicators for economic well-being, health, and family and community, while its education ranking remained unchanged.
In health, Pennsylvania ranks 20th, up from 21st in 2023. The state also moved from 25th to 19th in the ranking for the percentage of children who are uninsured. However, that change reflects national trends in uninsured rates among children rather than a drop in the number of uninsured children in Pennsylvania. The state has 153,000 uninsured children, an increase from 2023.
That number is expected to continue to increase as changes to federal law are implemented, causing families to lose health insurance coverage.
Last year, Congress passed the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s history through H.R. 1, also known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill. The law is being implemented in stages, moving closer to major changes in a program that provides health insurance coverage for more than 1.2 million Pennsylvania children, or approximately 40% of the state’s child population.
Children who rely on Medicaid include those with special health care needs, children in the foster care system, children in rural areas, children from military families, and children in low-income working families.
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children’s interactive map series, H.R. 1: Mapping the Cuts, shows how cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will affect health care access, food security, and economic well-being across the state.
The consequences of H.R. 1 will reach into nearly every corner of family life, making it harder for children to get care, harder for families to put food on the table, and harder for communities to support them. This is a serious and immediate threat to children and families across Pennsylvania.
The Data Book also shows Pennsylvania ranking 19th in economic well-being, up from 22nd in 2023. In the family and community domain, Pennsylvania scored 674, a 96-point improvement from 2019. In education, Pennsylvania ranked 10th among states, but its score was 491, down 145 points from 2019.
The KIDS COUNT® Data Book is now in its 37th year. The report provides statewide data to show where progress is being made, where more support is needed, and which strategies are making a difference.
PPC President and CEO Kari King was interviewed by Public News Service and Spotlight PA on the Data Book release.