The best children’s hospitals in the US, as ranked by U.S. News

To compile its latest list of the best children’s hospitals, U.S. News and World Report analyzed clinical outcomes, adherence to best practices for care and care-related resources such as staffing, technology and special services at nearly 200 hospitals across the country.

U.S. News then ranked hospitals in 10 pediatric specialties, including pediatric cancer, pediatric cardiology and heart surgery and pediatric orthopedics. To create its overall best pediatric hospitals list, U.S. News looked at which hospitals ranked highly in multiple specialties.

The lists, which U.S. News published last week, do not reflect hospitals’ COVID-19 responses or the challenges hospitals faced due to COVID-19. U.S. News has convened a COVID-19 panel of experts who have recommended changes to the hospital surveys the publication uses to collect data. U.S. News noted that its future data gathering and analysis will take into account the impact of the pandemic on patients and hospital operations.

U.S. News’ best overall pediatric hospitals list is below, along with its top 10 pediatric hospitals for three specialties.

U.S. News’ 2021-2022 best pediatric hospitals

1. Boston Children’s Hospital
2. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
3. Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
4. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
5. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
6. Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
7. Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C.
8. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
9. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
10. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Palo Alto, California

U.S. News’ 2021-2022 top 10 pediatric hospitals for cancer

1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
3. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
4. Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
5. Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C.
6. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
7. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
8. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
9. Children’s Hospital Colorado
10. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

U.S. News’ 2021-2022 top 10 pediatric hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery

1. Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
2. UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
3. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
4. Boston Children’s Hospital
5. Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health
6. Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora
7. UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital
8. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
9. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
10. Children’s Medical Center Dallas

U.S. News’ 2021-2022 top 10 pediatric hospitals for orthopedics

1. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
2. Boston Children’s Hospital
3. Children’s Medical Center Dallas-Scottish Rite for Children
4. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
5. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
6. Children’s National Hospital, Washington, D.C.
7. St. Louis Children’s Hospital-Washington University/Shriners Hospital
8. Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego
9. Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio
10. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

More details

See the full rankings here, and learn more about U.S. News’ ranking methodology here (PDF).

Related reading:

The 100 best hospitals in the US in 2021, according to Healthgrades

The best hospitals in each state for 2020, according to US News