HEALTHCARE

Texas is one of the worst states for children's health care, study shows. See full ranking

USA TODAY NETWORK

How healthy is your child?

Even though 95% of kids in the U.S. have health insurance, it doesn't come cheap. Those who qualify for employer-sponsored family coverage still pay an average of nearly $6,300 every year. Government-assistance programs such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provide relief to some families, but more do not qualify.

Other factors like the quality of a health care system, access to healthy food, and availability of fluoridated water can also have a significant influence on a child's health. WalletHub compared the 50 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, across 33 key measures of cost, quality and access to children's health care.

"The quality of children’s health care should be one of the most important considerations for parents when deciding where to live." WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said. "Having access to quality pediatric and dental care, nutritious food and good spaces for recreation from a young age can give children a much better chance of growing up healthy and forming good habits that will last into their adult life."

How did children's health care in Texas measure up against other states? We'll be honest, the state's system is in poor health.

A child receives a flu vaccine in an undated photo.

Texas is 2nd-worst state for children's health care, highest share of uninsured children

Unfortunately, the Lone Star State didn't score very high on WalletHub's study — in fact, it scored lower than all but one state, Mississippi.

In addition to overall rank, Texas also came second-to-last in the "kids' health and access to health care" category. It had the highest percentage of uninsured children in the country, eight times more than Massachusetts which had the lowest share. The state also had the nation's highest share of children with unaffordable medical bills (twice as much as Rhode Island, which had the lowest percentage). Texas also had the fourth-lowest share of children with "excellent/very good health."

Overall rank: 50 out of 51
Total score: 40.72
Kids' health & access to health care rank: 50
Kids' nutrition, physical activity & obesity rank: 31
Kids' oral health rank: 40

LIST: Best states for children's health care in 2025

Overall rank	State	Total score	Kids' health & access to health care rank	Kids' nutrition, physical activity & obesity rank	Kids' oral health rank
1	Massachusetts	67.31	2	1	20
2	Rhode Island	64.88	1	7	16
3	New Jersey	63.15	4	3	51
4	Pennsylvania	61.45	8	8	6
5	Vermont	61.25	3	28	3
6	District of Columbia (D.C.)	60.52	5	27	1
7	Hawaii	60.23	6	21	42
8	New York	60.19	10	12	21
9	Connecticut	60.10	7	18	29
10	California	59.67	11	13	24
11	Maryland	59.46	9	20	36
12	Washington	59.03	14	4	46
13	Minnesota	58.19	17	5	32
14	Illinois	57.16	12	32	2
15	Utah	57.11	22	2	48
16	Delaware	56.56	18	15	15
17	Colorado	55.80	29	6	13
18	New Hampshire	55.51	13	38	27
19	Nebraska	55.41	21	22	9
20	Iowa	55.12	19	24	14
21	Virginia	55.11	16	26	38
22	Oregon	54.50	28	10	12
23	Michigan	54.29	27	19	8
24	Idaho	54.27	15	37	26
25	New Mexico	53.87	24	25	5
26	Missouri	53.24	31	14	39
27	Ohio	52.55	20	42	22
28	South Dakota	52.02	26	30	28
29	South Carolina	52.00	25	33	23
30	Indiana	51.98	33	23	34
31	North Dakota	51.35	36	17	4
32	Alabama	50.33	23	47	31
33	Montana	50.22	39	11	43
34	Nevada	49.91	30	36	49
35	Tennessee	49.56	32	44	25
36	Florida	49.55	41	16	45
37	Wisconsin	49.28	46	9	18
38	Kentucky	48.75	34	45	11
39	Georgia	48.60	37	34	7
40	Kansas	47.88	42	29	19
41	North Carolina	47.83	35	35	41
42	Louisiana	46.28	40	41	47
43	Maine	45.71	38	51	17
44	Arkansas	45.61	44	43	37
45	West Virginia	45.32	43	48	10
46	Arizona	44.76	47	40	30
47	Oklahoma	43.49	45	46	50
48	Alaska	43.05	48	50	33
49	Wyoming	41.80	49	39	44
50	Texas	40.72	50	31	40
51	Mississippi	37.83	51	49	35