Overall Declines in Child Poverty Mask Relatively Stable Rates Across States

In this brief, authors Andrew Schaefer, Jessica Carson, and Marybeth Mattingly use Census data released on September 15, 2016, from the American Community Survey--the only regular source for estimating yearly child poverty rates at, and below, the state level--to examine child poverty rates across the United States by place type, region, and state. They report that between 2014 and 2015, child poverty declined nationwide across rural areas, suburbs, and cities. As before, cities had the highest child poverty, followed closely by rural areas. Suburbs had the lowest rates. In thirteen states, child poverty declined since 2014; only Mississippi saw an increase since 2014, and the remaining thirty-six states and the District of Columbia had stable rates. Mississippi, New Mexico, and Louisiana had exceptionally high child poverty rates, each over 28 percent. New Hampshire child poverty was among the lowest nationwide, at 10.7 percent. It is important to keep in mind that most states experienced no change between 2014 and 2015. Lower child poverty rates appear to be driven by higher median incomes over the past year