The total fertility rate for the United States in 2017 continued to dip below what’s needed for the population to replace itself, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The new report also reveals some major state-by-state differences in fertility rates.
In 2017, among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, total fertility rates ranged from a rate of 2,227.5 births per 1,000 women in South Dakota to 1,421 per 1,000 women in DC, a difference of 57%, according to the report, published Thursday.
Overall, the total fertility rate for the United States in 2017 was 1,765.5 per 1,000 women, which was 16% below what is considered the level needed for a population to replace itself: 2,100 births per 1,000 women, according to the report.
State-by-state differences in fertility
The new report was based on birth certificate data from 2017, provided to the National Center for Health Statistics through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. The researchers took a close look at state-by-state data and total fertility rates. Rates were measured as estimates of the number of births that a hypothetical group of 1,000 women would have over their lifetimes, given what birth rates were by age for that year.
The researchers found that South Dakota, with a rate of 2,227.5, and Utah, with a rate of 2,120.5, were the only states with a total fertility rate above replacement level in 2017.
The report also showed differences in total fertility rates by race: Among non-Hispanic white women, no states had a fertility rate above the replacement level; among non-Hispanic black women, 12 states did; and among Hispanic women, 29 states did.
For non-Hispanic white women, the highest total fertility rate was in Utah, at 2,099.5, and the lowest in the District of Columbia, at 1,012.
Among non-Hispanic b