Where Children Are in Poverty the Most in the U.S. Cities – 2023 Study

By Patrick Villanova | OCT 3, 2023

A dramatic drop in child poverty was one silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, the child poverty rate fell to an all time low of 5.2%, thanks in large part to federal initiatives like expanding the Child Tax Credit. But an average of 22.51% of children were living below the poverty line across 38 major American cities in 2021. Based on Census Bureau Data, SmartAsset ranked these cities based on the number of children in poverty.

Key Findings

• New York has 2.5 times as many children in poverty as the second most city. About 417,000 children were in poverty in New York City, compared to 174,000 in Los Angeles, which has the second highest number of children in poverty. In two years, the number of children in poverty in NYC grew by roughly 36,000.
• Detroit, Philadelphia and Baltimore had the highest child poverty rates. In Detroit, 43.1% of all children were impoverished, while 34.7% and 34.2% of the children in Baltimore and Philadelphia, respectively, were also living in poverty. 
• Los Angeles sees a large decrease in child poverty. There were about 22,000 fewer children living in poverty in 2021 compared to two years earlier. That’s the largest nominal drop across all 38 cities. Dallas (-19,000), Houston (-13,000), Atlanta (-10,000) and Phoenix (-8,000) also saw notably fewer child poverty numbers improve significantly. 
• These West Coast cities had the lowest child poverty rates. San Jose, Portland, OR, and San Francisco had the fewest children living in poverty relative to their populations in 2021. Only 8.2% of children in San Jose were living below the poverty line, while Portland and San Francisco had child poverty rates of 10.4% and 10.6, respectively. 

10 Cities With the Largest Number of Children in Poverty

1. New York, NY
   As the most populous city in the U.S., New York also had the highest number of children living in poverty in 2021 – 417,199. That’s 23.8% of all children who call the Big Apple home and more than two years earlier when 22.2% of the city’s children were living below the poverty line. That year, 380,747 kids in New York were considered impoverished. 
2. Los Angeles, CA
   Twenty-three percent (174,348) of all children in Los Angeles were living in poverty in 2021. However, that was a significant drop from two years earlier when 24.4% of all children – 196,009 kids – were living below the poverty threshold. 
3. Houston, TX
   Houston also saw an encouraging drop in the number of children in poverty between 2019 and 2021. While 165,075 kids were living below the poverty line in 2019, that number fell to 152,286 within two years. However, 28.6% of the city’s children are still in poverty – seventh-highest among major U.S. cities. 
4. Chicago, IL
   The nation’s third-largest city had the fourth-most children living in poverty in 2021 – 130,742. Chicago saw a slight uptick in the number of impoverished children from 2019 when 128,858 of all children were living in poverty (23.20%). In 2021, 24.2% of the city’s children were living below the poverty threshold. 
5. Philadelphia, PA
   Philadelphia had the third-highest child poverty rate in 2021 when 116,304 of the city’s 340,069 children – 34.2% – were living below the poverty line. There were 6,440 more children living in poverty in 2021 compared to two years earlier when 109,864 kids were considered impoverished. 
6. Phoenix, AZ
   In Phoenix, there were 8,377 fewer kids living in poverty in 2021 than in 2019, which was the fifth-largest drop across major American cities. However, the city still had the sixth-most children living below the poverty threshold (89,929). More than 22% of children in Phoenix were considered impoverished in 2021. 
7. San Antonio, TX
   San Antonio saw its child poverty numbers improve between 2019 and 2021. While there were nearly 97,000 children living below the poverty line in 2019, that number dropped to 89,054 within two years. In 2021, 25.1% of all children in San Antonio were living in poverty. 
8. Dallas, TX
   Only Los Angeles recorded a larger raw decrease in child poverty than Dallas, where 18,693 fewer children were living in poverty in 2021 compared to 2019. While there were 91,712 kids below the poverty line in 2019, that number had fallen to 73,019 two years later.
9. Detroit, MI
   While Detroit had the ninth-most children living in poverty in 2021, the Motor City unfortunately had the highest child poverty rate (43.1%) across all major cities. In 2021, 67,968 of Detroit’s 157,699 children were living in poverty. However, that’s an improvement from two years earlier when 3,795 more kids were considered impoverished. 
10. Columbus, OH 
    Ohio’s largest city has the 10th-most children (53,126) living in poverty. Compared to 2019, there were nearly 6,000 more kids living below the poverty threshold in 2021 when 27.2% of the city’s under-18 population was considered impoverished.

Data and Methodology

Cities were ranked by the largest number of children in poverty. Poverty rate among children was also examined. Data for 38 cities comes from the U.S. Census Bureau 2021 and 2019 1-Year American Community Surveys.

Financial Tips for Families 

• Start a college fund. It’s never too early to start saving for your child’s college education. 529 plans are one way to get a headstart on those savings. While these plans vary from state to state, you don’t have to live in a particular state to take advantage of the plan. Here’s a look at the best 529 plans out there. 
• Work with a professional. A financial advisor can help you build a financial plan for your family. Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three vetted financial advisors who serve your area, and you can have a free introductory call with your advisor matches to decide which one you feel is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/FeverPitched