America’s Population of Children is Nose-Diving; Only One Region with Growth

Children’s laughter is becoming less common all across the country — after the number of kids in the US shrank by 1.8 million since 2020.

All except for one region, where school classes are still growing: The South.

The portion of Americans under 18 grew by 1.1% between 2020 and 2025, amounting to 303,969 being born or moving to region during that time.

It’s a relatively small number of children, but significant compared to trends across the country — with the national child population dropping by 2.4% during the same time, US Census Bureau data from Axios found.

The drop was more dramatic in some regions.

Western states lost 1,015,068 kids — a 5.7% decline — while the northeast’s child population declined by 4.1%. (Read more from “America’s Population of Children is Nose-Diving; Only One Region with Growth” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr