Morris County Ranks 1st in Economic Well‐Being, Top 5 in Health, Safety and Education

Morris County ranked among the top five counties for key areas of child well‐being, ranking first in
family economics and fifth in child health, according to the annual New Jersey Kids Count county profiles
and pocket guide released today.

View County Profiles and Ranking

View pocket guide, New Jersey Kids Count 2017: The State of Our Counties

(county-by-county trend data on 40 indicators of child health and well-being)

The rankings, which compare counties on 12 measures of child well‐being, and across four domains –
economics, health, safety and well‐being, and education – provide a closer look at how children are
faring in various parts of the state, often revealing a range of outcomes depending on where they live.
The pocket guide, NJ Kids Count 2017: The State of Our Counties provides county‐by‐county child trend
data across 40 measures of child well‐being.

“Fewer Morris children live in families struggling to make ends meet, but there are still nearly 6,500 kids
in poverty. The county can do better in increasing participation in the federal school breakfast program,
a valuable resource to help low‐income students start the day ready to learn,” said Cecilia Zalkind,
president and CEO of Advocates for Children New Jersey, which produces the state Kids Count reports.
“From increasing lead testing for young children to addressing child hunger with school breakfast,
community leaders can use the data to recognize areas of concern and target resources to improve the
lives of children in their county.”

Morris County Ranks:
First in Child and Family Economics: For the nearly 110,000 children that call Morris County home, 6
percent live in poverty, compared to the state average of 16 percent. Unemployment is 3.9 percent,
compared to New Jersey’s 5 percent. Morris County also has the state’s lowest percentage of rent
burdened households, with 42 percent paying more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

Fifth in Child Health: Roughly 11 percent of Morris County children under age 6 received a blood lead
test in 2015; that puts the county eighteenth overall on this measure. The percentage of kids without
health insurance – 1.9 percent, is well below the state average of 3.7.

Third in Safety and Well‐Being: The percentage of teens not in school and not working, sometimes
referred to as idle or disconnected youth, is 3 percent, half the state average. Also, 9.8 percent of
reported cases of child abuse or neglect were substantiated or established in 2015, which increased
slightly from 9.3 in 2011. Morris County saw a decrease in juvenile arrest rates from 11.6 per 1,000
arrests in 2011 to 6.8 in 2015.

Second in Education: Morris County boasts a 95 percent high school graduation rate, higher than the
state average of 90 percent, and the second highest rate in the state. Thirty‐two percent of low‐income
Morris County students start the day with school breakfast, placing the county 18th on this indicator. In
addition, 5 percent of students are chronically absent, meaning they miss 10 percent or more of
enrolled school days.

In addition to the county rankings, Advocates for Children of New Jersey also released New Jersey Kids
Count 2017: The State of Our Children, in May, which provides state‐level data in all areas of child well‐
being.

To read the reports, visit www.acnj.org.
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KIDS COUNT is a national and state‐by‐state statistical effort to track the state of children in the United
States, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Advocates for Children of New Jersey is a statewide
child research and action organization and the New Jersey Kids Count grantee.