Peninsula Daily News
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PORT ANGELES — Newly released and analyzed 2011 Census data show Port Angeles to be, er, fertile.
Port Angeles had Washington state’s highest 2011 birthrate with 86 births per 1,000 women, or a total of 1,126.
That’s the 22nd-highest rate in the country, according to research by On Numbers, the research division of American City Business Journals, which analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Longview is close behind in the state baby rate, with 84 births per 1,000 women, or 25th-highest in the country. A total of 1,919 babies were born there in 2011.
Nearby, Aberdeen had 1,032 births in 2011, a rate of 72 births per 1,000 women, and Bremerton-Silverdale logged 3,095 births for a rate of 54 births per 1,000 women.
The national average is 54 births per 1,000 women.
The 16 major markets with the highest birthrates are all located in the South and West, according to the American City Business Journals, of which Seattle-based Puget Sound Business Journal is part and reported the Port Angeles ranking Monday.
The study defines a major market — larger than Port Angeles — as one of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.
Provo No. 1
Topping the major-market list was Provo, Utah, where 12,523 women gave birth in 2011. That works out to a rate of 87 births per 1,000 women.
It should be noted that “birth,” in this case, refers to any instance in which a woman delivered at least one newborn.
A set of twins counts as one birth in calculating a market’s birthrate.
These are the five major markets with the highest birthrates:
■ Provo, Utah, 87 births per 1,000 women.
■ McAllen-Edinburg, Texas, 86.
■ Durham, N.C., 80.
■ Memphis, Tenn., 77.
■ Boise, Idaho, 76.
The places with the lowest birthrates are primarily found in the East and Midwest, though Knoxville, Tenn., Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., all made the bottom 10.
Here are the five lowest rates among major markets:
■ Albany, N.Y., 36 births per 1,000 women.
■ Springfield, Mass., 38.
■ Knoxville, Tenn., 39.
■ Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., 41.
■ Dayton, Ohio, 43.
