🧒 Mississippi Has the Highest Share of Single Moms

What We’re Showing:

This map shows the share of single mothers by U.S. state. Only households with children under the age of 18 were included.

Data is sourced from the Badger Institute, based on the latest American Community Survey Findings.

Key Takeaways

Poorer states in the South—Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia—have some of the highest rates of single mom households.

Utah has the lowest share of single mom households in the country. Most of the population is Mormon, and the religion discourages children outside marriage.

Nearly 17% of all American households with children have single moms.

Related Content

Check out our piece on poverty levels to see correlations between this map and other data.