In 2021, approximately 3,664,300 births were recorded in the United States.  The seven-state Great Plains region registered 251,508 births in 2021, or about 6.9% of total births in the U.S. that year.  With 11.62 births per 1,000 population, the Great Plains' regional birth rate was nearly 5.3% higher than the national average birth rate.  Moreover, all seven states in the region recorded a birth rate in 2021 that was above the national average of 11.04 births per 1,000 population.  Three states in the region (Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) experienced 2021 birth rates that topped the national average by more than 13%. An additional review of data from the National Center for Health Statistics provides the following state-level details about birth rates in the Great Plains region:

Birth Rates in the Great Plains Region

Area Name	Births	Population	Birth Rate*
Iowa	36,835	3,193,079	11.54
Kansas	34,705	2,934,582	11.83
Minnesota	64,425	5,707,390	11.29
Missouri	69,453	6,168,187	11.26
Nebraska	24,609	1,963,692	12.53
North Dakota	10,112	774,948	13.05
South Dakota	11,369	895,376	12.70
Region	251,508	21,637,254	11.62
U.S.	3,664,292	331,893,745	11.04

(*) number of births per 1,000 population

Report Period: 2021

Source: CDC Wonder. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Natality on CDC WONDER Online Database. Data are from the Natality Records 2016-2021, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed on June 24, 2023