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Declines in Births Have Been Reversed in Some Western States

By Bill Dubensky Apr 30, 2025 | 8:57 AM

Jon Bahr holds his newborn daughter, Taverie,  in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Courtesy of Jon Bahr/MilkShake Factory via the North Dakota Monitor)

 

(By:  – via the North Dakota Monitor) –  The number of births in some Western states that are adding new housing rose last year, reversing losses the year before in many cases, according to new federal statistics released.

Increases from 2023 to 2024 were highest in Colorado (4.5%), Idaho (3.8%), Utah (3.6%), Washington state and Nebraska (each 2.6%). Births increased around 2% in West Virginia, South Dakota, North Carolina, Montana, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

Almost all those states had decreases in births the previous year, and many have been building housing rapidly since 2023. Idaho, North Carolina and Utah have issued enough building permits in 2023 and 2024 to add about 4% to their housing stock, the highest in the nation.

Melissa Kearney, an economics professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in families and fertility, said there could be a link between homebuilding and more babies.

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