2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book

KIDS COUNT® (LA INFANCIA CUENTA™) is a national network, coordinated by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, that provides legislators, public officials and child advocates with reliable data, policy recommendations and tools to advance policies that benefit children. The Maryland Center on Economic Policy (MDCEP) is the Maryland member of the KIDS COUNT Network and helps compile data and share our analysis of the data and possible policy solutions with elected officials and community leaders across the state.

Each year, the KIDS COUNT Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains — economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors — and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall.

This year’s Data Book emphasizes the challenges students in Maryland and across the country are facing, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. At stake nationally: hundreds of billions of dollars in future earnings and trillions of dollars in lost economic activity.

Maryland ranked 22nd in overall child well-being in this year’s Data Book.

Read our blog post summarizing this year’s key takeaways