This Is the State With the Highest Birth Rate

Health and Healthcare

Published: January 24, 2022 8:30 am

Last Updated: January 24, 2022 9:09 am

After decades of robust growth, the population in the United States rose only 7.4% from 2010 to 2020 to 331,449,281. The figure barely rose in the Midwest but grew over 10% in the South. The news set off several alarm bells. What happens to the size of the American workforce as people age? Might it shrink? The size of the older population is growing quickly.

Another root cause of the slow growth is that Americans have fewer children than in decades past. The size of the U.S. household keeps on shrinking.

As it has been since 2007, the U.S. birth rate is well below what is referred to as “replacement-level fertility.” That is, the birth rate a country must maintain to keep population levels stable without immigration. This could prove to be a problem. Though it is impossible to predict the implications with any degree of certainty, an aging and shrinking population could slow economic growth, strain government funding and lead to worker shortages.

While birth rates are at historic lows nationwide, in some states, birth rates far exceed the national average of 10.8 births per 1,000 people. Using birth data over the one-year period ending on July 1, 2021, from the U.S. Census Bureau, 24/7 Tempo identified the state with the highest birth rate. Birth rates in the states ranged from as low as 7.9 to as high as 13.8 per 1,000.

In all but two of the 15 states with the lowest birth rates, deaths outnumbered births from July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2021. Meanwhile, births outnumbered deaths in all but three of the 15 states with the highest birth rates. Births minus deaths, as well as migration (people moving in and out of a given state), are the factors that contribute to overall population change.

The state with the highest birth rate was Utah. Here are the details for the period:

Births: 13.8 per 1,000 residents (45,159 total)
Population change due to new births: +1.4%
Total population change: +1.7%
Total population, July 2021: 3,337,975

Methodology: To determine the state with the highest birth rate, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the Census Bureau’s Population and Housing Unit Estimates Program. States were ranked based on the number of new births per 1,000 residents in the described period. Data on total population change and population change due to natural growth (new births minus deaths) were calculated using data from the same Census Bureau program.

Click here to see all the states with the highest birth rates.