In 2024, 13% of Kansas children—about 87,000 kids—lived in poverty, down from roughly 101,000 in 2019. Kansas ranked fifth nationally for economic well-being in 2024 and held a comparative overall position of 14th in the nation in both 2023 and 2024, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual 50-state Kids Count evaluation.
Health coverage and outcomes moved in the wrong direction. About 51,000 Kansas children lacked health insurance in 2024 (about 7%), up from an estimated 43,000 in 2019. The data tracked worsening health measures between 2019 and 2024, including increased numbers of low birth weight babies, children without health insurance, child and teen deaths, and child obesity rates, with the uninsured rate among children one percentage point above the national average.
Education indicators also declined. The share of Kansas eighth graders not proficient in math rose from 67% in 2019 to 74% in 2024, and fourth-grade reading proficiency fell similarly, with about 66% not proficient in reading in 2019 increasing to 72% in 2024. The Iola Register, via Kansas Reflector, notes that graduation timing improved, with on-time high school graduation failure falling from 13% in 2019 to 11% in 2024.