To understand what it looks like to grow up in DC we start with

Demographics

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Population by Age

The District's population of older children and youth has started to increase again.
  • While DC’s overall population of children is increasing after pandemic-era decreases, the population of young children continues to decrease. DC’s population of children and youth (under age 18) went up to 129,831 in 2024 from 126,742 in 2022 (single-year estimates).
  • The population of children under age 5 went down to 39,498 from 40,469 in the same year.
  • DC’s population of young adults ages 18-24 also increased slightly, to 70,860 from 68,328.
200,691 Children, Youth, and Young Adults Reside in DC
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Race & Equity

Children Under 5
40%
Black
15997
28%
White
11376
17%
Latine
7084

Population by Race

Children and youth continue to reflect the “Chocolate City” moniker, but just barely.
  • While half of children and youth under age 18 are Black, the share of Black children and youth has consistently declined in DC over the last several years.
  • One in four (27%) DC children and youth have at least one parent who was born abroad.
  • DC’s population of 18- to 24-year-olds has similar demographics to the overall population. DC’s young adult population is whiter than DC’s children and youth: 39% are Black, 11% are Latinx, and 39% are white.
200,691 Children, Youth, and Young Adults Reside in DC

Equality versus Equity

When you advocate for equality, you settle for less. In other words, if the starting points are staggered and children and young people are given the same kind of resources, the outcome will still be equally staggered because not everyone came from the same place.
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Population by Ward

Where DC’s children and youth live.
  • Wards 7 and 8 are home to more than one-third of DC’s children and youth under age 18.
  • DC’s Latinx child and youth population is clustered, with almost half living in wards 1 and 4 and three-quarters living in wards 1, 4, 5, and 7.
DC Children and Youth Living in Each Ward
Unless otherwise noted, data shown is based on the most recently available data which for most measures is the 2020-2024 5-year average. Individuals who are Black and Latinx may be counted in both groups.

Find more information about all the demographic measures in our data references section and visit our appendix to download a table with the full DC KIDS COUNT 2026 data set.