2025 Kids Count Data Book Released

Arizona has the second-highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, according to the 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a 50-state report of recent data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how kids are faring in America.

This year, Arizona ranked 42nd overall in child well-being, the same ranking as in the 2024 Data Book.

Data Book findings for the State of Arizona include:

• 9% of children in Arizona are uninsured, a rate that is only worse in one other state, Texas
• The percentage of children in poverty decreased slightly from 2024 to 15%; however, over the past decade, this rate has dropped significantly from 26% in 2013
• The percentage of children who live in households burdened by the high cost of housing remains stubbornly at 29% when compared to the previous year.
• 390,390 children in Arizona received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to prevent hunger in 2024
• Four-year graduation rates increased from 76.6% the previous year to 77.5%
• 36% of children live in single-parent families, families that find it especially difficult to stretch their budgets to afford daily essential expenses

Children’s Action Alliance encourages lawmakers and officials at the state and federal levels to use this detailed information to unite across party lines and respond with initiatives that invest in young people in Arizona.

Children’s Action Alliance urges state and federal leaders to:

• Protect Medicaid, known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) in Arizona and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) program, KidsCare, while also ensuring children and families do not face new red tape that will cause eligible families to lose their health care coverage
• Increase affordable housing for children and families. Three in 10 households with children continue to be housing burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on housing, leaving little for essential items such as groceries, child care, and transportation.
• Ensure access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), school meals, and child care assistance for children in struggling families.
• Fully fund K-12 public schools

These policies are urgently needed today in state and federal policymaking and in crafting state and federal budgets. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget that robs children of access to health care, food assistance, and more. Children’s Action Alliance is counting on the U.S. Senate to oppose the federal bill and instead bring change that will help children have access to the basic building blocks they need be to be safe and healthy, and to reach their full potential.

Each year, the 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. In its 36th year of publication, the KIDS COUNT® Data Book provides reliable statewide numbers to help leaders see where progress is being made, where greater support is needed and which strategies are making a difference. Data for all topics can be found at the KIDS COUNT® Data Center.