Kid Nation is a CBS reality show based around a society essentially run by kids. The cast included 40 children aged from 8 to 15 years old, and from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, cultures and religions.

Alex

Alexander "Alex" Wade was a 9-year-old blue district member from Reno, Nevada. He won a gold star on day 37 in episode 12. He was shown to have intelligence in many episodes, often offering a fact or two to his companions that they did not previously know. Alex is a three-time Nevada geography champion, and represented Nevada in the 2008, 2009, and 2010 National Geographic Bee. Alex is also an International Linguistics Olympiad medalist who earned a silver medal in 2011 and a gold in 2012. He graduated from Stanford University and works at Roblox.

Anjay

Anjay Ajodha was a 12-year-old from Pearland, Texas. He was introduced in episode one as a council leader (of the blue district), and remained on the council until the second election in episode 10 when he was replaced by Greg in a 2–7 vote.

He has won multiple spelling bees.The Facts (Texas news site) SpellingBee.com He was the youngest child to compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, at age 8, in 2003, and placed 18th overall in the National Spelling Bee in 2006. When he was seven years old, he was judged "the best young speller in the Senior Spelling Bee category". Anjay was homeschooled until the third grade and remained an accelerated student.Campus Report Online He became an Eagle Scout in 2011. He graduated from the Honors College at the University of Houston in 2015 with a degree in computer science and has worked at Microsoft. He has been a commentator for the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee for several years, along with host Ernie Manouse.

Anjay participated in the 2024 Vice TV documentary episode of Dark Side of Reality TV on the making of the show.

Blaine

Blaine Wise was a 14-year-old from North Palm Beach, Florida. He is not related to fellow participant Sophia Wise despite sharing the last name. Blaine was originally assigned to the blue district and became close friends with Greg. In the ninth episode, Blaine was transferred to the yellow district, where he was able to excel outside of Greg's shadow of influence. He promptly won a gold star in episode 9 for his performance and ability to motivate his new team. In the tenth episode, Blaine was elected to the town council, narrowly defeating incumbent Zach (5-4) who had brought him into the yellow team.

Blaine studied criminal justice at Greensboro College and is married with children.

Brett

Brett Norstom was an 11-year-old yellow district member from Edina, Minnesota.

Campbell

Campbell Beadles was a 10-year-old green district member from Thomasville, Georgia. He was quite upset after his friend Cody left on the 13th day.

Cody

Cody Mendenhall was a 9-year-old yellow district member from Newport, Ohio. He left the series on day 13 in episode 4, due to homesickness.

Colton

Colton Blake was an 11-year-old yellow district member from Reno, Nevada. He helped the yellow team finish in first place for the first time.

Divad

Divad Miles was an 11-year-old red district member from Fayetteville, Georgia. She was known as the "potato girl" throughout the show for her dedication to cooking potatoes for the town. She also made numerous appeals to the town council and her fellow townsfolk to be nominated for the gold star, though she never received it.

Before her time on Kid Nation, she founded a non-profit organization in 2005, Sow Our Seeds, Inc., which focuses on motivating individuals to do positive deeds in their communities. Miles earned a bachelor’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2017, a master’s degree from Mercer University in 2020, and a doctorate from the University of Mississippi in 2024.

DK

Daniel "DK" Kyri (born October 10, 1992) was a 14-year-old red district member from Chicago, Illinois. He won a gold star in the sixth episode for his hard work and ability to solve conflicts involving other kids. He came very close to not winning the gold star, however, as he volunteered to leave just before the announcement because he had grown tired of all the constant bickering; Guylan convinced him to stay and he was awarded the gold star. He replaced Guylan as a town council member during the second election without contest. He is also the only member of the red district to win a gold star.

He is a writer and actor, appearing in a recurring role in Chicago Fire, Hamlet at The Gift Theatre in Chicago, Objects in the Mirror at Goodman Theatre, and Monster at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. It was revealed in a 2024 Vice episode of Dark Side of Reality TV that Kyri was the victim in the bleach drinking incident. He took a soda-style bottle that contained bleach and drank it. He was treated by medical staff and returned to set on the same day.

Emilie

Emilie was a 9-year-old red district member from Nevada. She had very strong opinions about whether or not to kill the chickens for food, as the Pioneer's Journal told them to do. They eventually killed the chicken anyway, with many objections from Emilie. She got traded to the blue district from the red district in episode 9 because Anjay felt that she didn't work hard in the red district and didn't like her red district mates.

Eric

Eric Sturm was a 14-year-old green district member from Morristown, New Jersey. In the talent show, he played the piano and sang Leaving New Jersey, an original composition. He was also friends with Zach who was on the yellow district, Hunter and Michael who were also in the green district.

He appeared on the Kid Nation by the Kids podcast, hosted by green district members Michael Thot and Sophia Wise, where he revealed that he is a social worker for a middle school in Brooklyn.

Gianna

Gianna Clark was a 10-year-old blue district member from Chicago, Illinois. She was naturally quiet, and was seen speaking only twice on the show. She was well liked by her teammates because she was friendly and was a dependable, hard worker. After graduating from Stanford University, Gianna moved back to Chicago for a few years but then relocated to Los Angeles.

Greg

Gregory Pheasant was a 15-year-old blue district member from Reno, Nevada, and the oldest participant on the show. He was the oldest and strongest kid in the town. Often temperamental and, at times, he even seemed to bully and tease his counterparts, which he referred to as "tough love." A hard worker, Greg was nominated for gold stars in three of the first four episodes, but was voted against because of Mike's suspicions about Greg's motivations. Depicted as very bossy and bullying to the younger children who became fearful of him, Greg won a gold star in episode 5 for being a genuinely hard worker, improving his attitude, and for comforting some of the younger participants who were dealing with homesickness. In the tenth episode, Greg was elected to the town council for the blue district, defeating Anjay 7–2.

In an interview with the Eric Barber Show in 2020, Pheasant revealed he is married with kids. He was the president of MRANN for three years and currently is involved with national racing associations. Greg was just recently signed on as a Ford Factory Off Road Driver and will compete in Reno to Vegas (formally known as Vegas to Reno) for his tenth year. Greg has won three out of the nine Vegas to Reno years in different classes. He still occasionally rides motorcycles but mostly supports his kids at their races. Greg and his oldest boy have taken up hunting and filling their tags every year. His wife still rides motorcycles at home with the kids but stopped racing too, and they have two horses, 20 chickens, a rabbit and five dogs on property at home.

Guylan

Guylan Qudsieh was an 11-year-old red district member from Upton, Massachusetts. He became a member of the town council at the first elections on day 16 (episode 5), taking Mike's place as leader of the red district. He was overwhelmed with the responsibilities and criticized that as a leader he had to endure and at the second election on day 29 (episode 10), he asked the town to vote him off.

Hunter

Hunter Jeffers was a 12-year-old boy and was a green district member from Martinez, Georgia. He received a gold star on day 34 in episode 11 for his hard work. Hunter was also shown leading some of the town in prayer.

Hunter studied accounting at Georgia College & State University.

Jared

Jared Goldman (later Vivi Goldman) was an 11-year-old red district member from Dunwoody, Georgia. Goldman was shown to be quite intelligent and was known for making quirky quotations that didn't always fit the situation such as "Holy Banana Bread!" and "Pelvis has left the building baby!". After the show aired, Goldman sold several leftover "Bonanza 2007" necklaces on eBay. During the Kid Nation talent show, Goldman recited a passage from Shakespeare, which had been practiced earlier by reading to the chickens, and expressed satisfaction that the performance "wasn't the worst one." Goldman was close winning the gold star in episode 12 day 37 but lost to Alex. During the first dinner, Goldman approaches one of the leaders and states that "Today has been the worst day in three years." This comment was met with questions from viewers as to what happened three years prior to that day.

Goldman appeared as a guest on the Kid Nation by the Kids hosted by Kid Nation members Michael Thot and Sophia Wise, where she had confirmed to have since transitioned since 2014. She received a degree from Georgia State University in 2021 and has since gone into IT.

Jasmine

Jasmine Robinson was an 11-year-old red district member from Atlanta, Georgia. She is the subject of a confessional-style interview and sang during episode 8.

Jasmine started acting and singing at the age of four and landed her first commercial with Volvo. She has been in Toys R US, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Back to School, Halloween and Valentine commercials. She is part of a jazz group that has appeared in the movie Far From the Altar and television shows Survivor's Remorse and Greenleaf.

Jimmy

James "Jimmy" Flynn (born 1998) was an 8-year-old green district member from Salem, New Hampshire. He was the youngest participant, and left the show in the first episode on day 4 due to homesickness.

He made an appearance in a JonTron YouTube video at the age of 21, where he was interviewed about his experience on Kid Nation. During the interview, he noted his intent to become an oncologist. He appeared in the 2024 Vice TV documentary episode of Dark Side of Reality TV on the making of the show where he revealed that he was in medical school. He shared that he was bullied after the show for crying on television.

Kelsey

Kelsey Liu was an 11-year-old yellow district member from Furlong, Pennsylvania, a small town east of Doylestown. She made friends easily with the other yellow team girls. She appeared in every episode and also in several publicity interviews for the show since filming was complete. Kelsey is a talented pianist, as seen in the talent show segment of episode 8, Starved for Entertainment. She is also best friends with Leila, Taylor, Randi and Sophie, her fellow district members.

Kennedy

Kennedy Peyton Womack was a 12-year-old green district member from Ashland, Kentucky. She was awarded a gold star on day 25 (episode 8) for her hard work, social demeanor, and outgoing personality, and also for convincing Savannah to stay with the community in spite of homesickness. Kennedy is a poet, and was also a nationally ranked tennis player in her age group.

Womack graduated from Morehead State University with a BA and then a J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She works as a public defender.

Laurel