Young Children in Poverty by State

Twenty-two percent of all young children, birth to 8, in the U.S. are poor. Poverty rates for young children range from a low of 11 percent in New Hampshire to a high of 34 percent in Mississippi according to analysis of 3-year American Community Survey data.  States with high poverty rates for young children include Alabama (28 percent), Arkansas (29 percent), District of Columbia (29 percent), Kentucky (28 percent), Louisiana (29 percent), New Mexico (30 percent), and South Carolina (28 percent). For more on child poverty in the U.S., visit the CLASP DataFinder or read New Child Poverty Data by Race and Ethnicity.