U.S. News reveals Best Children’s Hospitals for 2024-25: Here’s the honor roll, top regional hospitals, and more

After poring over data and surveying thousands of pediatric specialists, U.S. News & World Report has compiled its list of the Best Children’s Hospitals for 2024-2025.

U.S. News & World Report has compiled its list of the Best Children’s Hospitals for 2024-2025. Seattle Children's Hospital, above, made the U.S. News honor roll of the top 10 hospitals.

U.S. News released its rankings early Tuesday morning. The outlet examined 108 pediatric hospitals and picked top performers in different regions and among different specialties.

Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, says the top performers tend to rank highly in each survey, even as they see different patients and the methodology in the rankings change over time.

“That's also a reassuring sign for families,” Harder tells Chief Healthcare Executive®. “So many conditions do require establishing care and then maintaining that continuity of care over the whole course of a kid's childhood. …. So that's a really important thing for a family going into an arduous healthcare journey.”

U.S. News evaluates a great deal of data provided directly by hospitals, including their clinical records and reports from quality management programs.

“I think it's a commitment that they are showing they're making to families, because ultimately, the information that we obtain from them and use to evaluate hospitals provides transparency for these families who are often in an hour of desperate need,” Harder says.

• Read more: How U.S. News selects the best hospitals and how the process has changed

U.S. News typically selects an honor roll recognizing the top 10 children’s hospitals, and has done so again this year. However, this year, U.S. News named its honor roll as a group and didn’t rank the top 10 in numerical order.

Harder says the change is designed to spotlight all the top performers.

“In the past, we had identified the top 10 in the nation as one through 10, and this year we identified them as a group,” Harder tells Chief Healthcare Executive®.

“They have a depth of expertise,” he says. “And rather than splitting hairs about their relative strengths, we wanted to make sure that families knew these 10 hospitals are really strong at everything. And really, if you need to go beyond your local community, you can't really do better than any one of these hospitals.”

Each of the hospitals recognized in the honor roll ranked as the top hospital in their state or tied for the top spot.

Here are the 10 children’s hospitals in the U.S. News honor roll.

Honor roll

Boston Children's Hospital

Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Children's National Hospital, Washington

Cincinnati Children's

Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio

Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

Seattle Children's Hospital

Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

Specialties

U.S. News also ranked top performers in 11 specialties, including behavioral health for the first time this year.

“One thing that strikes me is that there's quite a bit of consistency in which hospitals perform among the best in particular specialties,” he says.

These children’s hospitals ranked highest in a few key specialties.

Pediatric cancer

1. Cincinnati Children's

2. Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

3. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

4. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

5. Children's National Hospital, Washington

Cardiology and heart surgery

1. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

2. MUSC Children's Heart Network of South Carolina, Charleston

3. Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

4. Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center, Durham, N.C.

5. Cincinnati Children's and Kentucky Children's Hospital Joint Heart Program

Neurology and Neurosurgery

1. Boston Children's Hospital

2. Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

3. Cincinnati Children's

4. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

5. Children's National Hospital, Washington

Best Regional Hospitals

U.S. News also selects the top pediatric hospitals in several geographic regions.

Harder says the regional listings are valuable to families, especially since some states don’t have dedicated children’s hospitals.

“I think for some families in states that don't have those pediatric resources, it can be really comforting to know, OK, I have several options. I may have to travel to get the top level of care for my child, but I have some choices about where to go.”

These pediatric hospitals were recognized as the best in each region.

Mid-Atlantic

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C. (tied)

Midwest

Cincinnati Children's, Cincinnati; Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus (tied)

New England

Boston Children's Hospital

Pacific

Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego; Seattle Children’s Hospital (tied)

Rocky Mountain

Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora

Southeast

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta; Levine Children's Hospital, Charlotte, N.C.; Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, Tenn.

Southwest

Texas Children's Hospital, Houston

• Read more: U.S. News releases its first ratings of ambulatory surgery centers