Disclaimer: General educational research only — not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules differ by state and by family. Talk to an estate planning attorney in your state before you act.
3,628,934 babies were born in the United States in 2024, according to final birth-certificate data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). That’s about 9,915 a day. Each one is a family that now has a question to answer in writing: who would raise this child if something happened to the parents?
1,433,976 of those births (39.5%) were to unmarried mothers. That matters for planning, because the default inheritance rules in every state are built around married couples. Without a will, an unmarried partner usually inherits nothing, and a child’s right to inherit from a father who isn’t married to the mother can depend on paternity being legally established.
A new baby is a good reason to finally write a will. See whether a will or a trust is the better fit for your family.
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Key findings
- 3,628,934 births in 2024 (by mother’s state of residence), about 9,915 a day.
- Most births: California (402,075), Texas (390,828), Florida (224,389), New York (205,489) and Pennsylvania (127,299).
- 1,433,976 births (39.5%) were to unmarried mothers; 2,194,958 were to married mothers.
- Highest shares of births to unmarried mothers: Louisiana (54.9%), Mississippi (53.9%), New Mexico (53.2%), Nevada (48.5%) and Delaware (47.3%).
- Lowest shares: Utah (22.1%), Colorado (24.0%), Idaho (26.5%), New Hampshire (28.4%) and Montana (30.3%).
- Most births to unmarried mothers: Texas (161,189), California (152,443), Florida (101,274), New York (75,961) and Georgia (58,102).
Births by state, 2024
| State | Births, 2024 | Births per day | Births to unmarried mothers | Share unmarried (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 402,075 | 1,099 | 152,443 | 37.9 |
| Texas | 390,828 | 1,068 | 161,189 | 41.2 |
| Florida | 224,389 | 613 | 101,274 | 45.1 |
| New York | 205,489 | 561 | 75,961 | 37.0 |
| Pennsylvania | 127,299 | 348 | 48,727 | 38.3 |
| Ohio | 126,795 | 346 | 52,927 | 41.7 |
| Georgia | 126,437 | 346 | 58,102 | 46.0 |
| Illinois | 125,731 | 344 | 49,747 | 39.6 |
| North Carolina | 122,856 | 336 | 50,123 | 40.8 |
| New Jersey | 101,372 | 277 | 33,339 | 32.9 |
| Michigan | 99,525 | 272 | 37,869 | 38.0 |
| Virginia | 94,054 | 257 | 33,005 | 35.1 |
| Tennessee | 83,833 | 229 | 35,009 | 41.8 |
| Washington | 83,118 | 227 | 26,210 | 31.5 |
| Indiana | 80,257 | 219 | 33,955 | 42.3 |
| Arizona | 78,711 | 215 | 35,749 | 45.4 |
| Massachusetts | 68,184 | 186 | 22,826 | 33.5 |
| Missouri | 67,998 | 186 | 26,403 | 38.8 |
| Maryland | 65,797 | 180 | 26,595 | 40.4 |
| Colorado | 64,268 | 176 | 15,430 | 24.0 |
| Minnesota | 62,110 | 170 | 20,127 | 32.4 |
| Wisconsin | 59,686 | 163 | 21,912 | 36.7 |
| South Carolina | 58,768 | 161 | 26,207 | 44.6 |
| Alabama | 57,934 | 158 | 25,999 | 44.9 |
| Louisiana | 53,305 | 146 | 29,268 | 54.9 |
| Kentucky | 52,913 | 145 | 22,315 | 42.2 |
| Oklahoma | 47,962 | 131 | 21,338 | 44.5 |
| Utah | 46,664 | 128 | 10,313 | 22.1 |
| Oregon | 38,963 | 106 | 14,461 | 37.1 |
| Iowa | 36,436 | 100 | 13,196 | 36.2 |
| Arkansas | 35,395 | 97 | 15,711 | 44.4 |
| Connecticut | 34,599 | 94 | 12,650 | 36.6 |
| Kansas | 33,984 | 93 | 12,220 | 36.0 |
| Mississippi | 33,473 | 92 | 18,058 | 53.9 |
| Nevada | 32,381 | 88 | 15,715 | 48.5 |
| Nebraska | 24,785 | 68 | 8,616 | 34.8 |
| Idaho | 23,276 | 64 | 6,170 | 26.5 |
| New Mexico | 21,328 | 58 | 11,352 | 53.2 |
| West Virginia | 17,022 | 46 | 7,474 | 43.9 |
| Hawaii | 14,917 | 41 | 6,111 | 41.0 |
| New Hampshire | 11,770 | 32 | 3,343 | 28.4 |
| Maine | 11,601 | 32 | 4,173 | 36.0 |
| South Dakota | 11,451 | 31 | 4,041 | 35.3 |
| Montana | 11,331 | 31 | 3,428 | 30.3 |
| Delaware | 10,550 | 29 | 4,990 | 47.3 |
| Rhode Island | 10,009 | 27 | 4,147 | 41.4 |
| North Dakota | 9,634 | 26 | 3,128 | 32.5 |
| Alaska | 8,943 | 24 | 3,268 | 36.5 |
| District of Columbia | 7,616 | 21 | 3,443 | 45.2 |
| Wyoming | 6,089 | 17 | 2,043 | 33.6 |
| Vermont | 5,023 | 14 | 1,876 | 37.3 |
| United States | 3,628,934 | 9,915 | 1,433,976 | 39.5 |
Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, User Guide to the 2024 Natality Public Use File, Tables 2 and 8 (births by state of residence). Sorted by number of births. Per-day figures divide by 366 (2024 was a leap year).
The new-parent checklist
- Write a will and name a guardian. If both parents die, a judge decides who raises a minor child. A will is where you tell the court who you’d pick, and a backup. Courts usually follow the parents’ choice unless it isn’t in the child’s best interest. See who would raise the kids.
- Decide who manages the money. A baby can’t own life insurance proceeds or an inheritance outright. If you don’t set up a trust or name a custodian, a court may have to appoint someone to manage it until age 18, and the child may get it all at 18 or 21, depending on the state. A trust in your will, or a living trust, lets you pick the manager and the age.
- Update beneficiary forms. Life insurance, retirement accounts and bank accounts with a payable-on-death beneficiary go to whoever is named on the form, not to the will.
- If you aren’t married, put it in writing. In most states an unmarried partner has no right to inherit without a will or beneficiary form. For a father who isn’t married to the mother, a signed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity (offered at the hospital in every state under federal law) or a court order is the usual way to make the legal parent relationship clear. See the intestacy gap.
- Know what Social Security covers. Children of a parent who dies may get Social Security survivor benefits, but those payments are not a substitute for a will or life insurance. See children receiving survivor benefits by state.
For a fuller list, see our guide to estate planning for new parents.
Related: who would raise the kids · the intestacy gap · survivor benefits for children
Related research: turning 18 by state picks up where this page ends: about 4.5 million teens turn 18 each year, and parents lose automatic say over their medical care (Census Vintage 2025).
Methodology
Final 2024 birth data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, published in the User Guide to the 2024 Natality Public Use File (downloaded Oct. 19, 2026). Births by state come from Table 2 (place of residence). Births to unmarried women come from Table 8 (all races and origins, number and percent). State counts add up to the national totals of 3,628,934 births and 1,433,976 births to unmarried women, and every state’s count divided by its births matches the published percent. U.S. totals exclude Puerto Rico and the other territories.
How marital status is recorded. It is asked directly on the birth certificate worksheet in almost every state. NCHS says inferential procedures were used in 2024 for New York outside New York City (a birth is counted as nonmarital if a paternity acknowledgment was received or the father’s name is missing). California provides counts by marital status to NCHS instead of record-level data.
What this doesn’t measure. Birth certificates record the mother’s marital status, not whether the parents live together, and not whether either parent has a will. These are counts of births, not of parents, and twins or triplets count as separate births. Unlike survey data, birth counts have no sampling margin of error.
Frequently asked questions
How many babies were born in the U.S. in 2024?
3,628,934, according to NCHS final data.
What share of births are to unmarried mothers?
39.5% nationally in 2024. It ranged from 22.1% in Utah to 54.9% in Louisiana.
Do new parents really need a will?
Yes, if you have a minor child. A will is the main place to name a guardian, and it lets you choose who manages money left to your child.
Is this legal advice?
No. Talk to an estate planning attorney in your state.
Sources
Public-domain government sources only. Fetched 2026-10-19.
Data
- CDC National Center for Health Statistics, User Guide to the 2024 Natality Public Use File (Tables 2 and 8; marital status technical notes): https://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/DVS/natality/UserGuide2024.pdf
- CDC NCHS, FastStats: Births and Natality (national 2024 totals): https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/births.htm
- 42 U.S.C. 666(a)(5) (state procedures for voluntary paternity acknowledgment, including hospital-based programs): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section666&num=0&edition=prelim
- Social Security Administration, survivors benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/eligibility
Related data
More in Income, benefits, disability and life stages.
Cite this data
Family Estate Guide, “New Parents by State,” October 2026. https://familyestateguide.com/estate-planning-data/new-parents-births-by-state/
You’re welcome to reuse the table with a link back to this page. The underlying government data is public.
Published October 19, 2026 by Family Estate Guide. Data vintage: NCHS final natality data, 2024. Editorial standards.