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Friday, Nov. 21, 2025

Does Arizona have one of the highest rates of children without health insurance in the United States?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

Arizona had the second-highest rate of uninsured children in the nation in 2024, with 9.3% of those 18 and under lacking coverage, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. That’s up from 8.6% in 2023 and above the national average of 6%. The highest uninsured rates were among  low-income, Hispanic and American Indian children. 

The numbers underscore the state’s ongoing struggle to provide consistent, affordable health coverage for kids. A 2025 study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a national child-advocacy group, ranked Arizona 38th in children’s health and 42nd in overall child well-being among the 50 states. The study noted that states in the South and Southwest continue to see some of the nation’s worst outcomes, driven by limited access to affordable health care, higher child poverty rates and economic instability.

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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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