Cincinnati Children's and Boston Children's Hospital followed the top spot.
Texas Children's Hospital was named the top hospital for pediatric pulmonology and lung surgery in the 2025 to 2026 rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
"Being recognized once again as the nation's leading pulmonology program is a testament to the outstanding care our entire Texas Children's pulmonary team provides to our patients and their families," Marianna Sockrider, MD, DrPH, interim division chief of pulmonary medicine at Texas Children's Hospital, told Healio.
According to U.S. News & World Report, Texas Children's Hospital topped the 19th annual Best Children's Hospital rankings, which included 50 pediatric centers that provide care for serious respiratory problems.
"The core purpose of our rankings is to provide a decision support aid to families with sick children, but we recognize that for years, it's also been a North Star for clinicians and for health system leaders to understand where they stand in the quality of care that they're providing to sick children and which organizations are leading in specialties where they're offering services so [other hospitals] can potentially connect with and learn from the organizations that are excelling even more than they are," Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News, told Healio.
Using more than 1,000 data points for each hospital, Harder said a hospital is scored using three key factors: outcomes (survival, infections and surgical complications), processes of care and structure.
"Outcomes is the most important [element] ... but they're also challenging to measure," Harder told Healio. "Each patient is different, and some hospitals treat patients who may be more complicated or sicker than others, so you can't necessarily rely entirely on outcomes.
"That's why understanding the processes that hospitals use, for example, how well they adhere to best practices, is a really important piece of it," Harder continued. "Also, whether they have the services [is important]. If a patient has a complication, do they have the staff who can help rescue that patient?"
For the pediatric pulmonology and lung surgery specialty, scores were based on the success of each hospital with managing asthma, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy, as well as performing lung transplants, according to the ranking webpage.
Texas Children's Hospital, Cincinnati Children's and Boston Children's Hospital rounded out the top three of the pulmonology and lung surgery rankings. Further, Children's Hospital Colorado ranked fourth, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia ranked fifth.
"Our pulmonary and sleep specialists, along with our multidisciplinary team, are dedicated to delivering compassionate, evidence-based treatment, educating future health professionals and advancing research," Sockrider told Healio. "All of these efforts are aimed at improving the lives of the children and families who travel from around the world to receive care at Texas Children's Hospital."
Notably, each of the top five hospitals also made it on the Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll, demonstrating their high ranks in several specialties.
Last year, the top three children's hospitals for pulmonology and lung surgery were Cincinnati Children's, Texas Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
"If a hospital's ranking changes a little bit from one year to the next, that doesn't need to be of concern to clinicians because it's not really a concern to patients and families in their decision-making," Harder told Healio.
"But being one of the top 50 pulmonology and lung surgery programs in the country for children is an incredible accomplishment, and it's something that means a lot to families who care for complex and sick children," Harder said.