Boyle County is ranked 31 in the 2016 Kentucky Kids Count county data released on Dec. 4.

The rankings and data are released by Kentucky Youth Advocates, and is part of a nationwide initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States. Rankings are based on 16 indicators, organized into four domains: economic security, family and community, education, and health.

All 120 Kentucky counties are ranked according to the 16 indicators of child well-being:

Boyle County ranked 31.

• Economic security: About 20 percent of children live in poverty, while the median family income among households with children is $51,700.

• Education: About 46 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 6 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 12 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 33.4 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 14.6 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 62 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

Casey County ranked 64.

• Economic security: About 38 percent of children live in poverty, while the median family income among households with children is $36,500.

• Education: About 60 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 3 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 19 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 58.2 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 31.7 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 27.3 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

Garrard County ranked 83.

• Economic security: About 33 percent of children live in poverty, while the median family income among households with children is $44,400.

• Education: About 57 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 8 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 15 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 39 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 14.4 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 55 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

Lincoln County ranked 94.

• Economic security: About 36 percent of children live in poverty, while the median family income among households with children is $41,100.

• Education: About 50 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 9 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 17 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 46.4 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 21.4 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 36.9 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

Mercer County ranked 70.

• Economic security: About 26 percent of children live in poverty, while the median family income among households with children is $56,300.

• Education: About 51 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 7 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 13 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 43.1 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 11.7 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 45.4 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

Oldham County, about 20 miles northeast of Louisville and home to La Grange, ranked number one.

• Economic security: About 8 percent of children live in poverty, while the median family income among households with children is $104,100.

• Education: About 33 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 4 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 6 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 9.6 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 6.2 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 14.3 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

Wolfe County, home of the Red River Gorge, ranked 120.

• Economic security: About 65 percent of children live in poverty. The median family income among households with children was unavailable, because the “data was unreliable.”

• Education: About 65 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 18 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 9 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 86.3 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 21.8 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 14.1 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

It’s important to keep sharing the data, said Kentucky Youth Advocates Executive Director Terry I. Brooks in the data book.

“The discomforting truth is that the zip code in which Kentucky children live, the amount of money their family earns, and the color of their skin are pervasive and powerful influences on the childhood they will have and the future they can embrace,” Brooks wrote in the forward of the data book.

“We as a state have, in fact, come a long way in providing children what they need to be successful, like ensuring kids have health insurance and changing the way we respond to youth who get in trouble. But in so many other ways, we are still not even close to a place where every child and his or her family has the opportunity to succeed.”

Kentucky overall data:

•  Economic security: About 26 percent of children live in poverty. The median family income among households with children is $53,200.

• Education: About 50 percent of kindergartners are “not ready to learn,” while 11 percent of high school students are not graduating on time.

• Health: About 12 percent of children and young adults don’t have health insurance and there are 37.9 teen births, ages 15-19, per 1,000 births.

• Family and Community: There are 15.3 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree and 39.2 children, ages 0-17, in out-of-home care per 1,000 children.

All the data is available online at kyyouth.org/kentucky-kids-count/, in downloadable county data, along with the Kids Count Data Book.

The 2016 County Data Book examines how children’s success is impacted by where they live, what their family income is and the color of their skin, according to a release from Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Brooks said it is important to include that because “We know that a toddler growing up in a rural southeastern Kentucky county will have different opportunities than a toddler growing up in the suburbs of Northern Kentucky, just like a young girl whose family is in deep poverty will have different life experiences than a young girl whose family is financially stable. And a black teenager will experience high school differently than his or her white peer.”

“The data points presented in this book have stories and histories behind them. To truly understand why a white kid and a black kid who both do the same thing receive different punishments in the education or juvenile justice system, we must dig deeper and look at the core of these issues. We must recognize how our society allows and often promotes treating groups differently, whether consciously or not,” Brooks wrote.

Follow Kendra Peek on Twitter, @knpeek.

SO YOU KNOW

The complete version of the 2016 Kentucky Kids Count Data Book can be downloaded at kyyouth.org/kentucky-kids-count/ along with county data sets.