W.Va. Improves In National Ranking Of Child Wellbeing 

West Virginia rose from 44 to 41 year to year for overall child wellbeing in The Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

For more than 30 years, the Kids Count study has looked at four domains of what children and youth need most to live well: economic well-being, education, health and family and community. Each domain has four indicators, for a total of 16.

West Virginia’s scores improved in every category except health, falling from 35th in the nation to 39th. However, the state improved in two of the study’s indicators over the past five years. The share of children without health insurance improved between 2019 and 2025 from 4% to 3%, and child and teen deaths per 100,000 dropped from 31 to 29 in the same time.

In the family and community domain, West Virginia stands out for improvements in teen births per 1,000, falling from 25 per 1,000 in 2019 to 18 per 1,000 in 2025.

The impacts of COVID-19 continue to be felt in education, with students’ math and reading comprehension below pre-pandemic levels nationally. West Virginia is lagging behind national averages in both categories.

The report confirms that 20% of children in West Virginia live in poverty, a rate that has remained consistent since at least 2019. The national average of 16% of children living in poverty has improved slightly.