Reasons for waiting to start a family include being able to afford the $310,000 it takes to raise a kid to age 17. [Shutterstock]
When it comes to baby wipes, toddler leashes and the monthly purchase of onesies, Marin women are pressing pause.
That was the finding in new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, which reported that the U.S. county with the highest percentage of women who gave birth over age 40 was none other than Marin. According to the CDC, 11.4% of Marin women giving birth in 2023 were 40-somethings—tops in the nation. Second was San Francisco, at 10.9%.
Meanwhile, the average age of a woman giving birth in San Francisco is 33.6 years; in Marin it’s 33.5 years. The average age nationally is 29.6.
Outside the Top 10, Sonoma County checked in at No. 35 in the rankings, or 6.5% of its births to women who’ve celebrated the Big 4-0. Solano County finished 68, and Napa County was 73 on the list. Only counties with populations of at least 100,000 were included in the rankings.
Reasons for putting off starting, or adding to a family include establishing a career, the prioritizing of life pursuits such as travel, and advances in reproductive technology. The average age of birth mothers has been growing across all age demographics in the United States for decades. Overall in the U.S., 4.1% of births in 2023 were to women over 40, besting the 4.0% of teen births—for the first time ever. (Since 1990, teen births have dropped 73%; meanwhile, births by women over 40 in that time have jumped 193%, according to the CDC.)
Given the rising cost of living, older parents are also more likely to be able to afford to have children than those under 30. The cost to raise a child through age 17 for a household of four on a mid-level income is $310,000, according to Brookings Institution numbers from 2022.
