2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book Ranks Kansas Kids 14th in Child Well-being
Olivia Sourivong | June 18, 2026
Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation releases the national KIDS COUNT® Data Book, which ranks all 50 U.S. states on how children and families perform in education, health, economic well-being, and family and community support. What makes this year's data book unique is its new scoring system that incorporates pre-pandemic numbers alongside 2024 statistics. This year, Kansas saw a score of 636 and was ranked 14th in overall child well-being.
New Scoring System
The new scoring system in the 2026 KIDS COUNT® Data Book allows states to measure their own progress more effectively. Although rankings provide a snapshot compared to other states, they do not give comprehensive details on how a state has improved or declined over time.
By anchoring states to 2019 – the last full year of data before the pandemic – states can better assess long-term trends and progress. Scores are measured on a scale from 0 to 1,000 and illustrate how far apart states actually are. Important to know, though, is that 500 is not a midpoint value and should not be interpreted as “half as good.” Because the scale is continuous, there is no set midpoint value.
What the Data Says about Kansas Kids’ Well-being
With Kansas’ overall child well-being score of 636, it’s clear our state hasn’t significantly moved the needle on child well-being and is still average at best. And, between 2019 and 2024, there was only a 9-point decline in the state’s overall score. This is rather a modest and less concerning decline when compared to our neighboring state, Colorado, which had the same 2024 score as Kansas but experienced a 27-point decline over the same period.
Taking a closer look at our scores in four areas shows where Kansas is thriving – and where Kansas kids might be struggling.
Kansas should be proud of its success in economic well-being, with a score of 849 and a ranking of fifth overall. This progress is due to more parents having full-time, year-round employment and fewer children living in households with a high housing cost burden.
Despite the economic well-being data putting Kansas in good standing (especially compared to other states), many Kansas families are still struggling economically. While the number of Kansans living in poverty has decreased over the last few years, about 24% of Kansas households are earning wages above the poverty level but are still walking a tightrope to afford their basic needs.
Our performance in family and community was scored 690 and ranked 22nd. Between 2019 and 2024, Kansas saw a 74-point score increase in this area, which is largely due to fewer children living in high-poverty concentrated areas.
Kansas was scored 416 and a ranking of 23rd in education. This score represents a 112-point decrease from 2019, showing that Kansas kids are falling behind in academic proficiency. However, Kansas is not unique in these concerning data points, as the state is following a nationwide trend of declining reading and math proficiencies. But, with the national education score seeing a 101-point decrease, Kansas kids have struggled slightly more than the rest of the nation over the past five years.
While the literacy crisis is not unique to Kansas, it is certainly a setback from when Kansas was a leader in reading proficiency in 1998 and outpaced national averages. Societally, our nation has undoubtedly changed since 1998. At school and home, children in 1998 were reading more pages in school and for homework and were frequently expected to explain and interpret their readings by their teachers. While the world’s technology shifts, the rise in chronic absenteeism from school, and state and federal changes in school funding are certainly factors in why many students are continuing to struggle, the pandemic may have been the final straw that exposed these challenges that have been accumulating for years.
Attention this summer has already turned to the Kansas Education Funding Task Force, which has been reviewing the current school finance formula before it expires in June 2027. The Task Force faces a limited timeline to decide on how they will revise the public school funding formula, which will need to be approved by the 2027 Legislature and the next Governor.
Health is another indicator that has shown a rapid decline in Kansas, with a score of 588 and a ranking of 25th.
Since 2019, Kansas’ health score has had an 80-point drop. Compared to our other bordering states, with the exception of Missouri and Oklahoma, Kansas kids are faring worse in our health care system. Across the state, children have seen the highest jump in the uninsured rate compared to adults.
In addition to the KIDS COUNT health ranking, attention is being pointed to Kansas’ decline in America’s Health Rankings, with significant philanthropic investment by the Kansas Health Foundation to turn the curve on Kansans’ health outcomes. Kansas’ ranking of 27th in America’s Health Rankings in 2025 is drastically different from when Kansas was a leader for Midwest health care and was ranked 8th in 1991.
The most alarming statistic is the 51,000 children who are without health insurance. This means 7 out of 100 Kansas children do not have access to affordable care; just one medical emergency can cause an entire financial crisis for their families. Kansas has not seen this many uninsured children since 2012.
The alarming increase in uninsured children correlates to the Public Health Emergency (PHE) ending in 2023 and finalizing in 2024. During this Medicaid “unwinding” period, many children and adults lost health coverage during eligibility redeterminations and enrollment operations.
Not only were families once again required to fulfill these paperwork requirements, many parents who became ineligible for Medicaid may not have realized their child could still be eligible for coverage because children generally have different eligibility levels. For instance, in Kansas, children may qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) up to 250% of the federal poverty level (FPL), whereas parents and caregivers are typically only eligible at 38% of the FPL.
While the PHE unwinding is one piece of the puzzle, there is more the state and advocates can do to help parents understand health care options for their children. The Legislature took an important step this year by modernizing the language around household income eligibility for CHIP. With the passage of SB 271, we finally saw lawmakers fix a long-standing error in state law that impacted children’s eligibility for the program.
There is still more work to be done to make Kansas health care accessible and affordable for all children, though. Our next Legislature should continue pursuing bipartisan and sensible policy investments in our health care system so that fewer children are at risk of losing their health care – and those 51,000 kids without health insurance are given a path to full insurance benefits.
Final Takeaways
The 2026 KIDS COUNT® Data Book reminds us that data alone does not tell the full story. Kansas may continue to be a national leader in economic well-being, but this does not offset the emerging warning signs in education and health. Declining reading and math proficiencies, coupled with the rising number of uninsured children, threaten the long-term well-being of the next generation of Kansas children.
As new and returning lawmakers prepare for the next legislative session after the elections this fall, we all have an opportunity to address these challenges through strategic and sensible advocacy and policy solutions that invest in children's health and K-12 public schools. The choices made over the next year could help shift the trends so that Kansas can reclaim its position as a Midwest leader in child well-being.
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