The U.S. Cities With the Most Children

Governing magazine digs into the data about which cities American families are more likely to call home.

1 minute read

November 18, 2015, 8:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Mike Maciag shares the results of a survey of U.S. cities to show which cities are home to the most families. Maciag used data from the Census Bureau that reports the estimated share of household with children under age 18. Across the nation, that share has declined over the past decade, says Maciag, but children currently live in 32 percent of U.S. households.

Families with children make up more than half the households in only two jurisdictions in the top 100 most populated cities in the country: Laredo, Texas and Santa Ana, California. "Nearly all cities where [children are] most prevalent are found in California, Texas and Arizona," adds Maciag.

Helpfully, Maciag also breaks down the data into groups of jurisdictions with similar densities, allowing easy comparison of cities like New York and Chicago or San Diego and Denver, among many, many others.

Maciag shares links to some of the commentary on the trends for younger families living in families versus suburbs, as well as some of the demographic conclusions the data offers in different examples. So, for instance, the number of children living in New York offers different lessons than the number of children living in Atlanta

Friday, November 13, 2015 in Governing

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