The 2016 numbers are in! This list has been compiled by the Center for Children’s Health & Statistics and based on four main categories for residents of the United States 18 years and younger:
– Health
– Economics
– Education
– Community
Rounding out the bottom of the list is:
10. Minnesota
9. Massachusetts
8. New Hampshire
7. Connecticut
6. Maryland
Maryland boasts the country’s highest rates of black homeownership and of blacks holding advanced degrees. Twenty-six percent of black Marylanders have a bachelor’s degree or higher. Blacks in Maryland also make a lot more money than black people in other states (the average income is $57,907) and live in some of the wealthiest black communities in the country—including Friendly, Bowie, Fort Washington, Mitchellville and Kettering
Other key information that’s good to know is:
– Ten percent of Mississippi teens aren’t in school and not working, which is more than double Minnesota’s rate; and a third of Mississippi high schoolers don’t graduate on time.
– Only 23 percent of fourth graders are considered proficient at reading in New Mexico—that’s 12 percent lower than the national average.
– Massachusetts had the lowest percentage of 8th graders not proficient in math in 2015 at 49 percent. Alabama, in contrast, had the highest rate — 83 percent.
– Nationally, 6 percent of children lacked health insurance in 2014. That’s a 40 percent improvement from 2008.
The top five cities in the top 10 are continued on the next page.