Tennessee ranks 13th worst nationwide for child well-being, according to a child disadvantage study released on Aug. 5 by WalletHub. The study evaluated 25 metrics across socio-economic welfare, health, and education, placing the state high on the list for childhood disadvantages due to factors including poverty, foster care rates, and food insecurity.
How Tennessee Scored in National Child Well-Being Rankings
WalletHub’s evaluation grouped 25 indicators into three primary categories scored on a 100-point scale: socio-economic welfare, health, and education. According to the study data, Tennessee ranked 10th in socio-economic welfare, 14th in education, and 22nd in health. The socio-economic category reviewed metrics such as the share of children living in foster care, low-income housing, homelessness, and living with a single parent or grandparent. The health and education categories analyzed factors including maltreatment rates, child food insecurity, child death rates, and public high school graduation rates.
The study placed nine Southern states within the top 15 jurisdictions where children face the greatest disadvantages. Mississippi ranked No. 1, followed by West Virginia at No. 2, Louisiana at No. 3, Arkansas at No. 6, Alabama at No. 7, Kentucky at No. 9, and South Carolina at No. 11. Conversely, states ranking lowest for disadvantages—representing the highest levels of child well-being—included New Jersey, New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Connecticut.
State-Level Data on Child Vulnerability
Data from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth’s 2025 report outline specific challenges facing children across the state. According to the commission, 19.1% of children in Tennessee lived in poverty. The report also documented 208 unsheltered homeless children and 15,901 children identified as victims of abuse or neglect. Roughly 8,500 children remained in the custody of the Department of Children’s Services, with state figures indicating that one in four child abuse victims was younger than one year old.
The WalletHub findings also intersect with broader policy discussions in the state, including regulations on child supervision. Tennessee law establishes no legal age for when children can be left home alone after school, leaving the determination entirely to parental judgment.
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