Kansas sets new low in birth rate

The birth rate in Kansas dropped in 2022 to its lowest point since recordkeeping began more than a century ago. According to the 2022 Kansas Annual Summary of Vital Statistics released in December 2023, the state’s birth rate was 11.7 births per 1,000 people.

Over the past 20 years, the Kansas birth rate has fluctuated between a peak of 15.1 births per 1,000 population in 2007 to its current low. But there has been a sustained decline that began in 2008 (that largely parallels the decline in the U.S.).

Sedgwick County bucked the trend in 2022. Its birth rate was 12.8%, up from 12.4% in 2021.

The statewide decline in 2022 was driven by White non-Hispanic mothers (a decrease of 0.9% to 10.8 births per 1,000) and Black non-Hispanic mothers (a decrease of 4.4% to 12.9 births per 1,000). The birth rate for Hispanic mothers was 16.4 births per 1,000 in 2022, up 0.6% from 16.3 births per 1,000 in 2021.

Of the 34,389 resident births in 2022, 4.7% (1,633) were to mothers under the age of 20; 51% (17,531) were to mothers 20-29 years of age; 41.6% (14,306) were to mothers 30-39 years of age; and 2.7% (916) were to mothers 40 or older.

Of the 23,569 resident births to White non-Hispanic mothers, 800 (3.4%) were to mothers under the age of 20. Of the 2,191 births to Black non-Hispanic mothers, 169 (7.7%) were to mothers under age 20. Of the 6,295 births to Hispanic mothers, 565 (9%) births were to mothers under 20.