Definition: Estimated percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs, by household income level (e.g., in 2024, 36.8% of California children with special health care needs lived on income at or above 400% of their household's federal poverty threshold).
Data Source: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Survey of Children's Health (Nov. 2025).
Footnote: The federal poverty threshold was $31,812 for a family of two adults and two children in 2024. Due to changes in methodology, these estimates should not be compared with data from earlier years. Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally. These estimates are based on a survey of the population and are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. For more information, see https://www.childhealthdata.org/learn-about-the-nsch/NSCH. Estimates published on childhealthdata.org may differ from data presented here due to differences in the treatment of unknown or missing responses.
