Justice
Map of the Day: The Geography of Unmarried Mothers
Flagstaff, Arizona, had the highest share of new mothers that were unmarried and Cheyenne, Wyoming, had the lowest.
We've heard these stats before: lower education levels, income, and age are all correlated to higher rates of single mothers. A U.S. Census report released today suggests geography may play a role as well.
The report [PDF] analyzes 2011 American Community Survey data, and charts the percentage of women (between the ages of 15 and 50) who had babies between January 2010 and December 2011 who were also unmarried. The metropolitan areas in the map below are color-coded based on their deviation from the norm (35.7 percent of new mothers nationally). Purple metros have "significantly higher" rates of unwed new mothers than the national average and green have "significantly lower."