Delaware landed at 31st for overall child well-being in the 2026 KIDS COUNT Data Book, with weak educational outcomes dragging the state’s ranking down.
The Data Book pulls national and state data from 16 indicators across four domains – economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors – then ranks states on how children are faring.
Delaware ranked 39th in education, 30th in health, 31st in family and community and 14th in economic well-being.
For the first time this year, states received a comprehensive score from 0 to 1,000. Delaware earned an overall score of 554 – higher than the national score of 547.
“When we’re talking about child well-being and making progress over time, we have a lot of different factors that influence that. It might be who is in charge at a given moment, and what their priorities are. It might be, what the general economy looks like, and what we can invest in to kids. It might be political will,” said Janice Barlow, KIDS COUNT Delaware director.
Delaware’s education numbers worsened this year across three indicators: young children not in school, fourth graders not proficient in reading, and eighth graders not proficient in math. High school students not graduating held steady.
The state slipped this year in three indicators – young children not in school, fourth grade reading proficiency and eighth grade math proficiency – while high school graduation rate stayed stable. Economic well-being stood out as a strength, with Delaware ranking 14th and improving across all four indicators.
Delaware made gains in teens not in school and not working, children living in households with a high housing cost burden, and children whose parents lack secure employment.
Barlow points to progress on children in poverty as well.
“Poverty is the indicator that affects every other indicator we report on, and so we really need to be cognizant and aware of what’s going on in that poverty number. And we want to see that constant improvement. And it’s good that we are seeing it, but we want to make sure that there’s sustained progress there,” said Barlow.
State leaders should use the KIDS COUNT data to guide policy and budget decisions, prioritizing children and families in hopes that strategic investment today will shape the state for generations to come.
You can find the report at https://www.aecf.org/resources/2026-kids-count-data-book