Median Length of Stay by State
Median months in care among children who exited during FY2022. FY2022 data; rankings require at least 500 exits, which 49 jurisdictions meet.
- 17.7 mo
- Qualifying mean (n=49)
- 17.5 mo
- Qualifying median
- 8.4 mo
- Lowest
- 29.7 mo
- Highest
This ranks median length of stay only, not overall state child-welfare quality or child safety. With fewer exits, a handful of cases can swing the rate.
#1 among the qualifying cohort: Wyoming at 8.4 mo (cohort median 17.5 mo).
Where the 49 qualifying jurisdictions sit
According to the U.S. Children's Bureau AFCARS FY2022 jurisdiction tables, half of the qualifying jurisdictions fall between 14.7 mo and 20.7 mo, so the 21.3-month gap between 8.4 mo and 29.7 mo is driven by the tails, not by a broadly split field.
- 17.5 mo
- Cohort median
- 14.7-20.7 mo
- Middle half of jurisdictions
- 18
- Jurisdictions in the most crowded band (16.9-21.2 mo)
- None
- Relationship to caseload size
Caseload size shows essentially no relationship to this measure across the qualifying cohort (Pearson r = 0.18, n = 49): big states are not systematically higher or lower. Correlation is not causation, and this measure is not adjusted for case mix, state law, or court practice.
Where the 49 qualifying jurisdictions sit
Equal-width bands across the observed FY2022 range. Band counts sum to the qualifying cohort (49), not to a quality score.
Two views of the same qualifying cohort
Distribution of jurisdictions meeting the exit floor, beside the #1 reading on the same scale. Neither chart is an overall child-welfare grade.
Distribution of median length of stay, FY2022
How the 49 jurisdictions meeting the 500-exit floor spread across the observed range
#1 · Wyoming
Same ranked #1 value as the table below; tick marks the cohort median as context only.
What the FY2022 Median Length of Stay Data Reveals
This is a wide-tail board: FY2022 runs 21.3 months from 29.7 to 8.4 mo, so the ranked list is dominated by extremes rather than a split middle. Wyoming is an outlier relative to the median (8.4 mo vs 17.5 mo); treat #1 as a tail case, not the typical jurisdiction.
Across the 49 jurisdictions that meet the ≥500-exit floor, the unweighted mean was 17.7 mo in FY2022 (median 17.5 mo). Delaware and D.C. are omitted because fewer than 500 exits make the rate highly volatile.
Median length of stay is the report's median months among children exiting care, not an average for children still in care. Lower ranks first. A short median can reflect faster reunification, faster adoption, or a caseload weighted toward brief stays; the published table does not decompose which path moved the median.
The ranking is descriptive and does not adjust for case mix, state law, reporting systems, courts, consent decrees, or service availability. Median length-of-stay figures are expressed in months among children exiting care. This data is informational and does not substitute for child welfare agency consultation, state caseworker guidance, or legal advice.
Qualifying Jurisdictions, Ranked by Median Length of Stay
| # | State | Grade | Median Length of Stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | B | 8.4 mo |
| 2 | South Carolina | C | 8.7 mo |
| 3 | Colorado | C | 10.8 mo |
| 4 | Idaho | A | 11.8 mo |
| 5 | North Dakota | B | 12.0 mo |
| 6 | Louisiana | B | 12.2 mo |
| 7 | Tennessee | C | 12.5 mo |
| 8 | Alabama | C | 12.9 mo |
| 9 | Ohio | D | 13.0 mo |
| 10 | Kentucky | C | 13.1 mo |
| 11 | Hawaii | C | 13.7 mo |
| 12 | Utah | B | 14.6 mo |
| 13 | Minnesota | C | 14.7 mo |
| 14 | Iowa | B | 15.1 mo |
| 15 | Arkansas | C | 15.2 mo |
| 16 | New Mexico | B | 15.5 mo |
| 17 | West Virginia | B | 15.5 mo |
| 18 | Nevada | B | 15.7 mo |
| 19 | South Dakota | C | 16.3 mo |
| 20 | Indiana | B | 16.8 mo |
| 21 | Arizona | C | 16.9 mo |
| 22 | Vermont | B | 17.0 mo |
| 23 | Florida | B | 17.2 mo |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | C | 17.3 mo |
| 25 | Mississippi | B | 17.5 mo |
| 26 | New Hampshire | B | 17.5 mo |
| 27 | Texas | C | 17.6 mo |
| 28 | Wisconsin | D | 17.6 mo |
| 29 | Nebraska | C | 17.8 mo |
| 30 | Montana | C | 18.0 mo |
| 31 | California | C | 18.3 mo |
| 32 | North Carolina | C | 18.3 mo |
| 33 | Alaska | C | 19.0 mo |
| 34 | Missouri | D | 19.1 mo |
| 35 | Massachusetts | D | 20.2 mo |
| 36 | New York | F | 20.3 mo |
| 37 | New Jersey | C | 20.7 mo |
| 38 | Oklahoma | C | 20.9 mo |
| 39 | Kansas | C | 21.0 mo |
| 40 | Georgia | D | 21.6 mo |
| 41 | Virginia | D | 21.6 mo |
| 42 | Washington | C | 22.9 mo |
| 43 | Oregon | D | 23.0 mo |
| 44 | Maryland | F | 24.0 mo |
| 45 | Maine | B | 24.5 mo |
| 46 | Rhode Island | D | 25.3 mo |
| 47 | Michigan | D | 25.5 mo |
| 48 | Connecticut | D | 26.3 mo |
| 49 | Illinois | C | 29.7 mo |
Other Metrics
Frequently Asked Questions
What is median length of stay in foster care?
Median months in care among children who exited during FY2022. PlainFoster derives this measure from FY2022 AFCARS jurisdiction reports published by the federal Administration for Children and Families.
Which state has the best median length of stay?
Among jurisdictions with ≥500 FY2022 exits, Wyoming ranks first at 8.4 mo. Lower values rank first. Wyoming is an outlier relative to the median (8.4 mo vs 17.5 mo); treat #1 as a tail case, not the typical jurisdiction. The unweighted mean of that qualifying cohort is 17.7 mo. Delaware (256 exits) and D.C. (260) are omitted.
Why is the median length of stay range so wide?
The AFCARS tables show a 21.3-month span across qualifying jurisdictions but do not establish causes. Case mix, state law, courts, and reporting can differ; this page keeps the figure descriptive.
How is median length of stay calculated?
Median Length of Stay is derived from AFCARS jurisdiction reports published by the Administration for Children and Families. It measures median months in care among children who exited during fy2022. The FY2022 data reflects the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2022.
Read with this measure
How States Are Graded
how PlainFoster turns AFCARS tables into comparable state boards
Source: Administration for Children and Families, AFCARS Report FY2022. acf.hhs.gov
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Source: U.S. Children's Bureau (Administration for Children and Families) AFCARS foster care placement, exit, and outcome statistics · 2022 Rates are shares of exits in the jurisdiction report; they are not a composite child-welfare grade.
According to the U.S. Children's Bureau (Administration for Children and Families), foster-care counts and discharge outcomes are published in AFCARS workbooks and jurisdiction reports. Every figure on PlainFoster is rebuilt from those federal tables; no number is typed in by an editor. This ranking is rebuilt from FY2022 AFCARS jurisdiction-report counts. The displayed mean is an unweighted mean of the 50 states and District of Columbia. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-07-30. AFCARS figures are federal fiscal-year foster-care counts and discharge rates from jurisdiction reports - not child-welfare quality rankings, court-performance scores, case-level advice, or real-time caseload status.