Data Sources and Fact Sheets

Data matters. When considering focus, priorities and strategies, communities need good, disaggregated data to inform their decision-making. Here is some information about where to find important data on NC children and families. The links below can help your collaborative have a data-driven discussion and make decisions about your work.

Download a Data Sources fact sheet to share.

Overall Child and Family Well Being

• NC Pathways to Grade-Level Reading Data Dashboard – Shares disaggregated NC data on more than 60 data measures that matter for moving the needle on third grade reading outcomes. See the Pathways Measures of Success Framework to read the research connecting these data measures to third-grade reading outcomes.
• NC Early Childhood Action Plan Data Dashboards – Data on each of the ten goals of the NC Early Childhood Action Plan, to track progress toward the targets and sub-targets of the 2025 goals.
• NC Kids Count – NC Child is the state’s Kids Count organization and manages the North Carolina Kids Count Data Center. Information is available by county, school district, city and congressional district. 
• County Data Cards (2020) – NC Child’s county data cards provide local snapshots of child well-being by county in five areas of children’s well-being: A Strong Start, Family Economic Security, Nurturing Homes and Communities, Health and Wellness, and High-Quality Education
• Diversity Data Kids – Indicators by race and ethnicity are available by county, metropolitan area and for large cities and school districts. Includes population, population change, household types, public school enrollment, school segregation and poverty among the 105 possible indicators.

Child Health and Development

• Child Health Report Card (2021) – This report card, published biannually by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and NC Child, tracks key indicators of child health and well-being in the areas of healthy births, access to care, secure homes and neighborhoods, and health risk factors. The 2021 Report Card also focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NC families.
• County Health Rankings and Roadmaps – Information by county on health outcomes, including length and quality, health behaviors (e.g., obesity and smoking), access to care, social and economic factors and physical environment.
• National Survey of Children’s Health – State-specific data on children’s physical and mental health, access to quality health care, and family, neighborhood, school, and social contexts.
• NCIOM’s Where to Find NC Health Data – The NC Institute of Medicine has put together this webpage of NC health data resources, including on overall wellbeing, maternal and infant health, adult and child health, health insurance and access to care, vital statistics, infant mortality and child deaths, mental health and substance use, environmental health, and social drivers of health.

Early Care and Learning

• Cost of Child Care – State-specific data on the cost of child care.
• Child Care Data Center – State-specific data on the affordability, accessibility, and quality of child care.
• Early Learning Fact Sheet (2019) – State-specific fact sheets that provide a look at the current state of early learning programs. 
• Home Visiting – State-specific data on number of children served and counties served with federal home visiting funds.
• NC ECE Data Repository and Factsheets – NC data by county on child care, number of children receiving child care subsidy, use of child care, number of child care programs for each star rating and more.
• NC ECE Workforce Studies – NC data on teachers, assistant teachers and directors in early care and education centers and family child care, and on the licensed early care and education programs where they work.
• NC Pre-K Outcomes Data – The NC Pre-K Program Evaluation Project at the FPG Child Development Institute has served as the external evaluator for the NC Pre-K Program since its inception during 2001-2002 (as More at Four)
• Smart Start PBIS – Population-level data by county on early care and education and health. Contact a Smart Start Local Partnership for a copy of their report.
• State of Preschool (2019) – State-specific data on NC Pre-K.

K-12 Education

• BEST NC’s Education Facts and Figures (2020) – NC statewide preschool, K-12 and higher education data on students, teachers, schools, financing and achievement.
• Civil Rights Data – NC data by school on a variety of civil rights in education topics including suspensions/expulsions, retentions, access to pre-K and IDEA, teacher experience and absenteeism, and more.
• Free and Reduced Lunch – NC data by school of free and reduced lunch applications.
• National Center for Education Statistics/National Assessment of Educational Progress – State-specific performance data for math, reading, writing and science for grades 4-8.
• NC School Report Cards – Data on student performance for each school in every North Carolina school district are released publicly and are available online.
• Student/School Performance – Student performance data by subgroup, including the number of students at or above grade level (Level III), the number of valid scores, and the percent at or above Level III on end-of-grade (EOG).

Family Supports

• Economic Snapshots (2020) – NC state and county level data on employment, poverty and income, affordable housing, health, and education.
• Federal Poverty (2021) – Federal poverty guidelines.
• National Center for Children in Poverty Young Child Risk Calculator – This interactive tool shows users how many children under age nine in each state are experiencing serious risks to their development.
• Self Sufficiency Standard (2020) – United Way’s Self-Sufficiency Standard for North Carolina defines the minimum income North Carolinians need to meet their basic needs without public or private assistance. The data is available by geographic location and household configuration.