Child dependency ratio by state

Utah has the highest estimate (43.7 per 100); New Hampshire and Vermont share the lowest (28.9 per 100). Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-year, 2024.

Data year: 2024Source released Sept. 11, 2025Last updated Oct. 23, 2026GCT0106

50 ranked states; DC and Puerto Rico appear as reference rows where the source supplies them. Highest does not mean best. Ranks reflect point estimates; close values may not differ statistically.

Lowest state estimate 28.9 per 100 New Hampshire and Vermont

Highest state estimate 43.7 per 100 Utah

Each dot is a state. The scale runs from the lowest to highest estimate; intervals are not shown here. Read about uncertainty.

State distribution and comparisons

The middle of the 50-state distribution is 35.3 per 100: the average of the 25th and 26th ordered state estimates. This treats each state equally, so it answers a different question from a population-weighted national estimate.

No other state is statistically tied with Utah at 90% confidence. Every other state differs from the highest point estimate under this pairwise test. This is not a confidence interval for rank, and testing multiple pairs increases false-positive risk.

See the top ten estimates with their 90% margins of error

Shared axis spans the complete 50-state estimate ± MOE range. Intervals describe individual estimates; overlapping intervals alone are not our significance test.

How does this compare with age dependency ratio?

These states’ ranks change the most between child dependency ratio and age dependency ratio. These comparisons identify different questions worth investigating; a rank gap does not measure a causal effect or a statistical difference between unlike units.

State	Child dependency ratio	Age dependency ratio
Texas	39.7 per 100 · #4	62.4 per 100 · #43
Utah	43.7 per 100 · #1	64.0 per 100 · #39
West Virginia	33.6 per 100 · #39	70.9 per 100 · #4

Inspect these states, definitions and pairwise differences.

The state-by-state view

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Ranked among 50 states; District of Columbia and Puerto Rico shown for reference. Rank 1 = highest value.

Child dependency ratio · 2024 · People per 100 working-age residents
Rank	State / jurisdiction	Value	90% margin of error	Difference from previous rank
1	Utah	43.7 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Highest estimate
2	South Dakota	40.9 per 100	± 0.6 per 100	Different at 90%
3	Nebraska	40.7 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
4	Texas	39.7 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
5	Idaho	39.6 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
6	Oklahoma	39.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
7	Kansas	39.2 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Different at 90%
8	Louisiana	39.1 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
9	Mississippi	38.6 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Different at 90%
10	Indiana	38.3 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
10	Iowa	38.3 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
12	Alaska	38.2 per 100	± 0.3 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
12	Arkansas	38.2 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
14	Minnesota	37.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
15	Kentucky	37.2 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Different at 90%
15	North Dakota	37.2 per 100	± 0.6 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
17	Alabama	36.9 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
18	Georgia	36.8 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
18	Missouri	36.8 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
20	Ohio	36.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
21	Wyoming	36.2 per 100	± 0.6 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
22	Maryland	36.1 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
23	Tennessee	36.0 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
24	New Jersey	35.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
25	South Carolina	35.4 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
26	New Mexico	35.3 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
27	Arizona	35.2 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
28	Delaware	35.0 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
28	North Carolina	35.0 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
30	Hawaii	34.9 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
31	Illinois	34.8 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
31	Michigan	34.8 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
31	Virginia	34.8 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
34	Wisconsin	34.7 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
35	Montana	34.5 per 100	± 0.3 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
36	California	34.3 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
36	Nevada	34.3 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
38	Pennsylvania	33.7 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
39	West Virginia	33.6 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
40	Washington	33.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
41	New York	32.7 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
42	Florida	32.6 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
43	Connecticut	32.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
44	Colorado	32.0 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
45	Oregon	31.8 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
46	Massachusetts	30.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Different at 90%
47	Rhode Island	29.6 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Different at 90%
48	Maine	29.5 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
49	New Hampshire	28.9 per 100	± 0.2 per 100	Different at 90%
49	Vermont	28.9 per 100	± 0.3 per 100	Not distinguishable at 90%
Ref.	District of ColumbiaNot ranked among states	27.0 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Reference jurisdiction
Ref.	Puerto RicoNot ranked among states	24.9 per 100	± 0.1 per 100	Reference jurisdiction

50 states plus 2 reference rows.

What this ranking measures

People under 18 per 100 people age 18 to 64.

A ratio can change through either the child population or the working-age population. It is not children per household.

The size of the gap

The difference between the highest and lowest state estimates is 14.8 per 100. The U.S. benchmark is 35.4 per 100. It is not a simple average of the states.

24 states have point estimates above the U.S. benchmark and 25 below it, with 1 equal to it. These counts do not establish statistical significance.

How much should you read into a rank?

Each estimate has a 90% margin of error published by the Census Bureau. For two different states, we flag a difference only when its absolute size exceeds the square root of the sum of their squared margins of error. The comparison tool applies this check to every selected pair.

Non-significance is not proof of equality. These pairwise tests are not adjusted for multiple comparisons and do not form ranking confidence intervals. Statistical method and limitations.

Ranks use the full precision of the source file, so only truly equal values share a rank (1, 2, 2, 4).

Keep exploring

Read the ranking methodology.

Explore the same states in a side-by-side comparison, or combine this measure with others in the custom ranking tool.

Source and method

Producer: U.S. Census Bureau
Product / file: ACS 1-year · GCT0106
Period: 2024
Unit: People per 100 working-age residents
Calculation: Published estimate; no transformation of the value. Rank = 1 + number of eligible jurisdictions with a higher value.
Coverage: The 50 states are ranked. Washington, D.C., can be added with the toggle above the table; Puerto Rico is shown for reference only, where the source covers it.
Cadence: Annual. 2025 ACS 1-year estimates scheduled for October 29, 2026 (Census ACS updates page); adoption follows editorial review.
Independence: Rank the States is independent. The agencies that produce the source data do not endorse these rankings.

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Suggested citation

Rank the States. Child dependency ratio, 2024. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 1-year, GCT0106; released 2025-09-11. Edition 2026-10-23. https://rankthestates.com/data/editions/2026-10-23/child-dependency-ratio.csv

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Updates and corrections

Last updated Oct. 23, 2026. Earlier editions stay available on the data page, and every change is listed in the update log. If a number or definition looks wrong, report an error with the state, value, and source you checked.

Related rankings

State distributions: each mark is one state, from lowest to highest. Each row uses its own scale.

Age dependency ratio

2024 · Census ACS

74.1 per 100 South Dakota · highest estimate 02

Older-age dependency ratio

2024 · Census ACS

39.7 per 100 Maine · highest estimate