Families Continue to Struggle as Georgia Falls Two Places
Georgia slips in economic well-being, more children and teens are dying, we continue to be in the bottom 10 in low birthweight.
Georgia ranks 39th out of 50 states in the nation for overall child and family well-being in the 2025 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, falling two spots from the 2024 report. This ranking marks a troubling reversal after making progress in recent years. It’s the Peach State’s lowest overall ranking in seven years.
Georgia ranked 48th in the inaugural KIDS COUNT Data Book released in 1990 but hasn’t been in the bottom 10 states since 2017. After holding steady at 38th for several years, we achieved our highest ranking of 37th in 2023 and maintained that in 2024.
“This slip in progress is a stark reminder that we must persist in our work toward measurably better outcomes for all our children, families, and communities,” said Georgia Family Connection Partnership Executive Director Gaye Smith. “It’s particularly troubling to see the startling increase in the number of teens and children dying in our state, and to lose ground in areas like economic well-being and education, where Georgia has made some gains and performed relatively well in recent years. When we dig deeper into the data, it’s clear that success for some does not always translate into success for all.”
The KIDS COUNT® Data Book uses 16 indicators to rank each state across four domains—health, education, economic well-being, and family and community—to assess child and family well-being.
This year’s Data Book reveals that Georgia has slipped or plateaued in some indicators, while neighboring states have continued to improve and outpace our progress, particularly in economic well-being and education. Georgia continues to struggle in the family and community and health domains, reflecting an increase in our child and teen death rate and only a nominal improvement to our stubbornly high low-birthweight rate.
