Texas girls graduate from high school at one of the highest rates in the country, but on most other measures of well-being they trail girls in other states, according to a report from the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas.
The 2026 State of the Texas Girl Report puts Texas 41st for girls' overall well-being when compared with the other states and Washington, D.C.. On physical well-being, Texas comes in 51st, last on the list.
The ranking gives equal weight to three areas: physical, academic and social or emotional well-being. Each Texas figure was compared with the same figure in the other states and the District, the report says. Its sources include the 2022-2023 National Survey of Children's Health, national math and reading test results from 2024, Texas Education Agency data and a January 2026 poll of North Texas parents.
Exercise, screens and weight
The report says fewer than 8% of Texas girls get an hour or more of physical activity daily, compared with nearly 20% of Texas boys. Almost a quarter of girls spend four or more hours a day on screens, and more than a third are classified as overweight or obese. On the share of girls at a healthy weight, the state is 48th.
Parents in the region rated things more kindly. In the council's poll of Northeast Texas parents, 55% called Texas girls' physical well-being excellent or good, and 45% called it average.
Roughly one Texas girl in five lives in a family below the federal poverty line, the report says, above the national rate of 15% but down from 24% in 2014.
School and support
Graduation is the state's strongest showing, ranked second nationally. Reading is weaker: 30% of fourth-grade girls and 28% of eighth-grade girls in Texas read at or above grade level, according to the report. Only 20% of eighth-grade girls are at or above proficiency in math.
