Red States See Biggest Gains in Best Places to Raise Kids
Four conservative states led by South Carolina have shown the strongest improvements in child well-being since COVID-19, while wealthier blue states lagged behind in the Annie E. Casey Foundation study.
South Carolina leads the nation with the most significant gains in childhood welfare between 2019 and 2024, as New York Post reports, based on findings from the 2026 “Kids Count” study published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Joining the Palmetto State at the top of the improvement rankings are Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, and New Mexico—four out of five of which voted decisively for President Trump in the 2024 election.
South Carolina Posts 38-Point Jump
South Carolina recorded a 38-point increase in its overall childhood well-being score, which the foundation calculates using 16 separate metrics including premature death rates, low birth weight instances, educational proficiency levels, and poverty statistics.
The state, which supported President Trump by a margin of 58 to 40 percent in November 2024, was among only three states nationwide that avoided a decline in education rankings over the five-year period examined by the study.
Educational performance held steady in South Carolina while actually improving in just two states: Louisiana and Mississippi. Both Deep South states have earned recognition for achieving stronger gains in reading and mathematics scores than wealthier Northeastern states.
Deep South Outpaces Wealthy Blue States
The report reveals a striking pattern: Southern states achieved the greatest regional gains despite continuing to occupy many of the lowest overall positions in absolute childhood well-being scores.
Among the 15 states showing improvement between 2019 and 2024, eight were located in the South, with South Carolina, Louisiana, and Kentucky posting the strongest advances.
Kentucky delivered notable gains in both economic well-being and education, cementing its position among the most improved states. Mississippi registered improvements across family and community metrics, economic well-being, and education.
The Mississippi Miracle Goes National
Mississippi now ranks 16th nationwide in education, a dramatic reversal that the report attributes to deliberate policy choices. The state passed the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which emphasizes reading proficiency by third grade, and sustained significant investments in public schooling.
The so-called “Mississippi Miracle” has begun attracting attention from progressive states including California, which itself ranks 33rd out of 50 states in the foundation’s childhood well-being assessment.
New York placed 30th in the rankings and saw its childhood well-being score decline between 2019 and 2024, while California remained flat during the same period.
Blue States Show Steepest Declines
The sharpest deterioration in child well-being occurred in Northeastern and Midwestern states, according to the data.
Maine experienced the largest drop in child well-being since 2019, followed by four Midwestern states: Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota.
North Dakota, Maine, Delaware, Iowa, and Oklahoma posted the steepest losses in educational attainment. Maine also recorded the greatest decline in child health outcomes.
Of the five states recognized for the strongest improvements, only New Mexico supported Kamala Harris in the most recent presidential election. That state saw substantial improvement in economic well-being and expanded its state child tax credit in 2023.
Mixed National Picture Under Biden
The Annie E. Casey Foundation described the nationwide data as showing a mixed and uneven picture of child well-being across America.
While teen birth rates and child poverty declined during the five-year study period, reading and mathematics proficiency both deteriorated between 2019 and 2024 under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Overall, 29 states experienced declines in child well-being since 2019, underscoring the uneven nature of post-pandemic recovery across different regions and political environments.
The top five states for overall childhood well-being in 2024 were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Utah, Vermont, and Minnesota. The five lowest-ranked states were Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, Alaska, and Nevada, with Texas also among the bottom tier.
With information from New York Post
