National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)

Get the newest data and resources.

The datasets are released annually on Child Health Day. The newest dataset is the 2024 dataset.

• NSCH datasets at the U.S. Census Bureau
• Data Users Frequently Asked Questions (PDF - 578 KB)
• Participants Frequently Asked Questions

Watch this video to learn about the NSCH and its value to our Nation.

The NSCH supports national efforts to improve the health and development of our children. We fund and direct the NSCH. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts this household survey each year. The survey provides 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.

Data briefs

• Healthy Behaviors among School Age Children, 2024 (PDF - 342 KB)*
• State Variation in School Readiness, 2022 – 2023 (PDF - 292 KB)*
• Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs, 2022 – 2023 (PDF - 934 KB)*
• Adolescent Mental and Behavioral Health, 2023 (PDF - 94 KB)
• School Readiness, 2022 (PDF - 75 KB)
• Material Hardship Among Children, 2022 (PDF - 84 KB)
• Healthy Weight Foundations in Early Childhood, 2021 (PDF - 1 MB) (April 2023)
• Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021 (PDF - 169 KB) (October 2022)
• Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, 2019 – 2020 (PDF - 321 KB) (June 2022)
• Rural Children's Health and Health Care, 2019 – 2020 (PDF - 302 KB) (February 2022)
• National Survey of Children's Health Overview, 2019 – 2020 (PDF - 222 KB) (October 2021)
• Mental and Behavioral Health, 2018 – 2019 (PDF - 236 KB) (October 2020)
• Rural-Urban Differences in Children's Health, 2017 – 2018 (PDF - 236 KB) (July 2020)
• National Survey of Children's Health Overview, 2017 – 2018 (PDF - 578 KB) (July 2020)
• Children with Special Health Care Needs, 2017 – 2018 (PDF - 940 KB) (July 2020)
• Title V Block Grant Measures, 2017 – 2018 (PDF - 194 KB) (June 2020)
• Adverse Childhood Experiences, 2017 – 2018 (PDF - 537 KB) (June 2020)
• National Survey of Children's Health Overview, 2016 – 2017 (PDF - 149 KB) (October 2018)

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

Archived surveys

Our partner, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), houses surveys and survey data 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)
• Archive of chartbooks with national and state data

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 survey provides data for 29 Title V national outcome and performance measures.

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 16 of their objectives.

The National Survey of Children’s Health-Longitudinal Cohort is an extension of the annual NSCH. It collects information about the health and well-being of children and young adults in the United States.

Contact us

Need more information, or have a specific question? Contact us at NSCH@hrsa.gov.

*Note: If you use assistive technology, you may not be able to access the information in this file. For help, please email Reem Ghandour or call 301-443-3786.