These are the best US cities for children, according to new data
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Where children grow up can shape their opportunities to learn, play and develop, and new data is highlighting the best U.S. cities for their well-being.
The 2026 America’s Childhood Well-Being Index, developed by ProCare Therapy, ranked 100 of the largest U.S. cities across five measures linked to children’s educational, physical, social and environmental well-being. The study examines chronic school absenteeism, child poverty, housing-related lead-exposure risk, access to public green space and third-grade reading performance.
The findings revealed a wide divide between cities, with some performing strongly across multiple measures and others facing significant challenges related to economic hardship, school engagement and early literacy.
Texas cities lead the rankings
Big picture view:
The study identified Frisco, Texas, as the highest-ranked city, with an overall score of 89.8 out of 100. Plano, Texas, and Irvine, California, follow in second and third place, respectively, while McKinney, Texas, ranks fourth.
Frisco, Texas, ranked No. 1 in the 2026 America’s Childhood Well-Being Index with a score of 89.8. (Credit: Getty Images)
Just 3.9% of children in the city lived below the federal poverty level, the lowest rate among the cities analyzed. The city also has a chronic absenteeism rate of 5.6%, fell into the lowest category for lead-exposure risk and recorded the study’s highest third-grade reading proficiency rate, at 89.4%.
Dig deeper:
Meanwhile, Plano and McKinney also performed well on measures of economic security and education. Plano has a child poverty rate of 8.7% and third-grade reading proficiency of 83.1%, while McKinney reported an 8.8% child poverty rate and reading proficiency of 85.1%.
In fact, Texas accounted for eight of the top 20 cities with complete observed data. Austin ranked 11th, Irving ranked No. 12, Arlington at No. 15, Corpus Christi at No. 19 and Garland at No. 20.
2026 America’s childhood well-being index
- Frisco, Texas
- Plano, Texas
- Irvine, California
- McKinney, Texas
- Chandler, Arizona
- Boise City, Idaho
- San Jose, California
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Henderson, Nevada
- Chula Vista, California
See the full report here.
Economic hardship, educational challenges weigh on lower-ranked cities
The other side:
At the other end of the index, Detroit received the lowest overall score, at 15.6 out of 100. The city recorded a child poverty rate of 54.5%, the highest among the cities analyzed, meaning more than half of its children live below the federal poverty level.
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Detroit also has the highest chronic absenteeism rate, at 45.1%, and the lowest third-grade reading proficiency rate, at 19.2%. It additionally falls into the highest category for lead-exposure risk.
Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus follow Detroit among the five lowest-ranked cities, with three Ohio cities appearing in the bottom five.
The Source: The information for this story was provided by ProCare Therapy, which used the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 population estimates. Each city was evaluated across five indicators: chronic absenteeism, children in poverty, lead-exposure risk, park access and third-grade reading performance. This story was reported from Los Angeles.