National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)

We fund and direct the NSCH, which is a household survey conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau. The NSCH produces national and state level data for key measures of child health and well-being. These data are essential to understanding the health status and health services needs of children across the nation and in your state and community.

2020 Data Briefs and Datasets

• NSCH Data Brief of Key Findings for 2019/2020 as well as five-year trends (PDF - 467 KB) (October 2021)
• 2020 and earlier datasets at the U.S. Census Bureau

2019 and Earlier Data Briefs

• 2018-2019 Mental and Behavioral Health Data Brief (PDF - 146 KB)
• 2017-2018 Rural/Urban Differences in Children’s Health (PDF - 194 KB)
• 2017-2018 National Survey of Children's Health - Overview (PDF - 660 KB)
• 2017-2018 Children with Special Health Care Needs Data Brief (PDF - 942 KB)
• 2017-2018 Title V Block Grant Measure Data Brief (PDF - 311 KB)
• 2017-2018 Adverse Childhood Experiences Data Brief (PDF - 450 KB)
• Press Release: New Estimates of Childhood ACEs, from the 2017-2018 NSCH

Survey Resources

• NSCH Codebook at the U.S. Census
• Questionnaires, Datasets, and Supporting Documents
• Our staff publications/presentations
• State Oversampling in the National Survey of Children's Health
• Data Users Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
• Participants Frequently Asked Questions

Archived Surveys

Our partner, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), houses surveys we used prior to the 2016 NSCH redesign:

• The 2003, 2007, 2011-2012 National Surveys of Children’s Health
• The 2001, the 2005-2006, and the 2009-2010 National Surveys of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN)

NSCH in the Broader Context

The NSCH supports national efforts to improve the health and development of our children.

The data are publicly available through the Data Resource Center for Child & Adolescent Health, a project of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. This resource center provides access through an online interactive data query.

The Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block Grant uses the NSCH to inform many of their national outcome and performance measures that track the health and well-being of children.

The Maternal and Child Health Jurisdictional Survey (MCH-JS) (PDF - 646 KB) is a new effort to provide information on the health and well-being of mothers and children in eight United States-affiliated jurisdictions. We based the survey on the NSCH, and then included questions on the health of mothers too. The survey provides data for 24 Title V national outcome and performance measures, previously unavailable for the jurisdictions.

Healthy People 2030 — an initiative that sets data-driven national objectives to improve the health and well-being over the next decade — also uses the NSCH to inform 15 of their objectives.

Contact Us

Michael D. Kogan, Ph.D., Director
MCHB Office of Epidemiology and Research