South Carolina Posts Largest Child Well-Being Gains Since 2019 but Deep South Still Ranks Near Bottom

South Carolina recorded the largest increase in child well-being of any state between 2019 and 2024, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2026 Kids Count Databook released this week. The state posted a 38-point rise in its overall score across 16 indicators that include premature deaths, low birth weight, educational proficiency and poverty rates.

South Carolina was one of only three states whose education ranking did not fall during the period. Educational attainment stayed stable in the state while it declined in 29 states overall. Louisiana and Mississippi were the only states where educational attainment improved.

The other states with the largest gains were Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and New Mexico. Among the 15 states that improved, eight were in the South. Southern states recorded the greatest regional gains of any part of the country.

New York’s score declined and the state ranked 30th. California’s score was unchanged and the state ranked 33rd. The five states with the highest overall scores in 2024 were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Utah, Vermont and Minnesota.

The five states with the lowest scores were Mississippi, New Mexico, Louisiana, Alaska and Nevada; Texas also ranked among the lowest. The Deep South continued to hold some of the lowest absolute scores even after the recent gains. Mississippi rose to 16th in education nationally.

The report credited the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, which focuses on reading proficiency by third grade, and sustained public-school investments. Kentucky posted strong gains in both economic well-being and education. New Mexico, the only one of the five most-improved states that supported Kamala Harris in 2024, expanded its state child tax credit in 2023 and recorded large gains in economic well-being.

South Carolina supported President Trump by 58 percent to 40 percent in 2024. Maine recorded the largest decline in child well-being, followed by Nebraska, North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. North Dakota, Maine, Delaware, Iowa and Oklahoma posted the steepest drops in educational attainment.

Maine also led the country in the decline of child health outcomes. Nationwide, teen birth rates and child poverty fell between 2019 and 2024, while reading and math proficiency declined. Virginia, Indiana and New Jersey recorded strong improvements in child health outcomes.

New York Post reported the Annie E. Casey Foundation findings.