Orange County Has Second-Lowest Child Poverty Rate in North Carolina; State Ranks 31st in U.S.

A new report on child poverty rates across the United States shows Orange County and Chatham County rank highly in North Carolina, while the state falls short compared to most other states’ rates.

The report from the non-profit organization Save the Children examines the percentage of children between the ages of infancy and 18 years old who live in poverty, as well as other metrics like child mortality and food insecurity rates. According to its data, the group says North Carolina ranks 31st out of the 50 United States with the average child poverty rate of 20.2 percent. That rate is an improvement for North Carolina from previous years, moving the state up from the 35th ranking it was given in 2018. Out of the entire U.S., New Jersey had the lowest rate with 13.5 percent and Louisiana had the highest with 26.5 percent.

Locally, Save the Children found Orange County does well at protecting children’s health. The county has the second-lowest child poverty rate of 10.8 percent and the lowest food insecurity rate among children in North Carolina at 15.5 percent. That ranks the county 279 out of 2,617 United States counties that had enough data to be included in the rankings.

The county falls away from the state’s top tier when it comes to the high school dropout rate, however, which is measured as the percentage of ninth-grade cohorts fail to graduate in four years. Orange County’s rate is 11.6 percent, which is closer to the middle of North Carolina’s other counties.

Chatham County is in the top 20 counties in the state when it comes to low child poverty rate, ranking 19th with a rate of 14.2 percent. Its child food insecurity rate is 18.5 percent while its high school dropout rate is 14.1 percent.

Overall, Save the Children says the United States still greatly struggles with food insecurity and helping children in rural areas. The study said rural child poverty rates are higher than urban rates in 41 of 47 states with rural designated areas and 84 percent of the counties where the most children struggle with hunger are both rural and high poverty.

To view the full report and interactive map with 2020 state rankings based on child poverty rates, visit Save the Children’s website.

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