Established in 1965, Head Start promotes school readiness for children in low-income families by offering educational, nutritional, health, social, and other services. Since its inception, Head Start has served more than 38 million children birth to age 5 and their families. In 2020, Head Start was funded to serve 839,116 children and pregnant people in centers, family homes, and in family child care homes. The program is rooted in urban, suburban, and rural communities throughout the nation.

For term definitions and fact sheets from other years, see Head Start Program Annual Fact Sheets.

Download the PDF version.

Federal Budget

The U.S. Congress authorizes the amount of federal spending for Head Start each year. The Head Start program is administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Head Start awards federal grants directly to public agencies, private nonprofit and for-profit organizations, tribal governments, and school systems for operating Head Start programs in local communities.

Activity	Amount
Head Start Program, including Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships	$10,363,049,571
Training and Technical Assistance	$247,078,421
Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation	$19,950,756
Monitoring Support	$36,000,000
Program Support	$56,836,681
Designation Renewal System (DRS) Transitions Support	$25,000,000
Total	$10,747,915,429

Annual Federal Funding and Funded Enrollment by State

The Head Start program serves children, families, and pregnant people in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and six U.S. territories. The table in this section presents the total actual funding awarded and funded enrollment of Head Start programs in each state and territory.

AIAN funding goes directly to AIAN tribal governments. AIAN programs operate in 26 states, and their services cross state lines in some cases. MSHS funding and funded enrollment are shown as one total, as this program supports children and families who receive services in various states during the year. Thus, federal funding and funded enrollment for these services cannot be attributed to individual states.

Annual Federal Funding and Funded Enrollment
	Head Start (excluding AIAN)		AIAN1
State/Territory	Federal Funding	Funded Enrollment	Federal Funding	Funded Enrollment
Alabama	$156,825,889	13,438
Alaska	$20,579,547	1,348	$35,776,476	1,965
Arizona	$175,213,573	13,054	$35,818,987	2,726
Arkansas	$106,372,981	9,191
California	$1,320,500,737	87,819	$14,106,767	825
Colorado	$119,296,359	9,489	$767,684	56
Connecticut	$73,144,144	5,585
Delaware	$21,553,287	1,996
District of Columbia	$36,656,754	2,370
Florida	$442,454,135	40,319
Georgia	$258,763,401	23,259
Hawaii	$31,997,148	2,941
Idaho	$38,883,862	2,908	$4,830,384	319
Illinois	$410,844,005	29,117
Indiana	$160,915,337	13,327
Iowa	$80,666,369	7,148
Kansas	$79,968,282	6,809	$2,139,862	109
Kentucky	$180,999,075	14,921
Louisiana	$209,932,116	20,165
Maine	$43,094,677	2,957	$982,196	60
Maryland	$121,176,389	9,192
Massachusetts	$162,250,043	11,589
Michigan	$367,417,126	29,085	$8,058,354	598
Minnesota	$125,893,518	10,946	$15,722,681	1,080
Mississippi	$225,587,275	21,622	$2,458,409	268
Missouri	$186,607,110	13,916
Montana	$37,266,084	2,916	$17,213,981	1,436
Nebraska	$61,472,858	4,885	$5,704,645	349
Nevada	$41,621,944	2,937	$4,466,309	362
New Hampshire	$21,040,873	1,521
New Jersey	$193,901,043	15,267
New Mexico	$77,925,474	6,502	$27,297,406	2,098
New York	$626,590,038	46,051	$1,560,466	143
North Carolina	$243,871,997	20,822	$3,031,241	230
North Dakota	$25,014,453	1,877	$10,491,826	819
Ohio	$383,581,783	33,303
Oklahoma	$137,635,270	12,984	$31,468,794	2,701
Oregon	$105,339,943	12,899	$4,723,353	396
Pennsylvania	$355,878,475	35,372
Rhode Island	$34,309,953	2,592
South Carolina	$132,548,140	12,167	$1,825,269	112
South Dakota	$28,547,672	2,713	$24,612,785	1,883
Tennessee	$182,106,785	16,480
Texas	$719,676,508	68,467	$1,325,722	134
Utah	$74,286,011	5,501	$2,290,027	230
Vermont	$24,372,338	1,419
Virginia	$151,962,333	13,886
Washington	$174,784,499	11,145	$25,465,339	1,566
West Virginia	$75,200,678	7,824
Wisconsin	$151,400,958	13,050	$14,027,829	1,089
Wyoming	$21,166,369	1,442	$3,089,685	261
American Samoa	$4,452,717	1,332
Guam	$3,744,033	534
No. Marianas	$3,627,943	460
Palau	$1,916,424	350
Puerto Rico	$325,872,430	28,318
Virgin Islands	$10,987,496	914
Subtotal:	$9,589,676,661	790,441	$299,256,477	21,815
MSHS	$455,143,869	26,860

Total2
Funding	$10,344,077,007
Enrollment	839,116

Program Year Statistics

Each year, Head Start programs are required to submit Program Information Reports (PIR) on the services they provided to children and families throughout the program year. This report includes child, family, and staff demographics and program characteristics.

For a copy of the PIR form, detailed reports, instructions on how to access PIR data sets, and further information, visit the Program Information Report (PIR) page.

Note that many PIR measures, including the cumulative enrollment and health measures, look different than historic trends due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in program closures and impeded the ability to resume full program services across the country during the 2020-2021 program year.

Program Characteristics

Most grant recipients provided both Head Start and Early Head Start services during the 2020-2021 program year.

• Head Start preschool services only: 27%
• Early Head Start services only: 12%
• Both: 61%

About 97% of funded Head Start preschool services were in center-based settings, and the majority were funded for 1,020 or more hours. This includes 15% to operate in center-based settings for 10 hours per day for the full calendar year. About 63% of funded Early Head Start services were in center-based settings, including about 29% operating center-based settings for 10 hours per day for the full calendar year. Additionally, about 32% of funded Early Head Start services were in home-based settings.

 

Child and Family Demographics

Head Start programs cumulatively served 756,000 children ages birth to 5 and pregnant people throughout the 2020–2021 program year.

Head Start serves a diverse group of children, families, and pregnant people. During the 2020-2021 program year, 37% identified as Hispanic or Latino, and 27% identified as Black or African-American, non-Hispanic or Latino. Additionally, about 32% of children enrolled were dual language learners, of which two-thirds were in families that primarily spoke Spanish at home.

Services to Children and Families

Head Start programs work with families to help ensure children have access to needed services and resources. The number of children who received immunizations increased from the beginning of the program year to the end of the program year. Also, more families had health insurance and medical and dental homes for their children at the end of the 2020-2021 program year than at the beginning.

Head Start programs work with families to ensure they have the means to obtain health insurance, services for children with disabilities, adequate housing, job training, and more.

During the 2020-2021 program year:

• Most children had public health insurance. At the end of the program year, 95% of children had health insurance and were primarily enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) program.
• Children with disabilities made up 13% of Head Start cumulative enrollment. Children with disabilities are those who have special plans under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In comparison, about 4% of infants and toddlers and 7% of preschool-age children across the U.S. had identified disabilities in 2019. Head Start serves a greater proportion of children with disabilities than found in the overall population.
• Among pregnant people enrolled in Early Head Start, approximately 79% received prenatal education on fetal development and 23% had medically high-risk pregnancies.
• Head Start served about 681,000 families cumulatively throughout the program year. The number of families served is less than the number of participants served, since some families have more than one child enrolled.
• Approximately 42,000 families served during the enrollment year experienced homelessness. Of those families, 25% found housing during the program year. Approximately 59,000 Head Start families received housing assistance, such as subsidies, utilities, and repairs.
• Approximately 76,000 families, or 11%, received services related to job training and adult education, such as general equivalency diploma (GED) programs and college selection.

Program Staff

Head Start programs employed and contracted with 263,000 staff. Parents of current or former Head Start children made up 22% of Head Start staff.

• Approximately 378,000 adults volunteered in their local Head Start program. Of these, 295,000 were parents of Head Start children.
• About 121,000 staff members provided child development services to children, including teachers, assistant teachers, home visitors, and family child care providers.
• Among child development staff, 30% were proficient in a language other than English.
• Of all Head Start center-based preschool teachers, 72% had a baccalaureate degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field with experience. The Head Start Act specifies that 50% of center-based preschool teachers nationwide should have these credentials.

¹AIAN funding is awarded to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. For reference, the funding and enrollment has been split out by the state in which the tribe is headquartered. Some tribes serve children across state lines.

²In FY 2021, there were expansion Funding Opportunity Announcements posted in multiple states including for AIAN and MSHS programs. None of these funds nor funded enrollment are included in this table as they were not awarded by the end of FY 2021.

« Go to Head Start Program Annual Fact Sheets

Last Updated: September 26, 2022