Lakewood, New Jersey has the highest childbearing rate in the country, according to a new analysis of 2020-2024 Census data obtained by TLS, with the township ranking first among geographic areas studied nationwide.
The data, compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey five-year Public Use Microdata Sample and sorted by the People’s Policy Project, found that 155.6 women per 1,000 women ages 15-44 in Lakewood reported giving birth in the previous 12 months.
That figure places Lakewood well ahead of the second-ranked area, western Rockland County, New York, which recorded a rate of 134.4 births per 1,000 women in the same age group.
The analysis ranked the top 10 geographic areas by the number of women ages 15-44 who reported a birth in the preceding year, per 1,000 women in that age range.
Several of the highest-ranking areas are home to large Orthodox Jewish communities, including Lakewood, western Rockland County, Borough Park and Kensington in Brooklyn, and southeastern Orange County, New York.
Northwestern Ocean County, which includes areas surrounding Lakewood, such as Jackson and Manchester, ranked seventh nationally, with a rate of 112.6 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44.
Other areas in the top 10 included parts of Florida and North Carolina, western Utah County, parts of Indiana with large Amish communities, and central Nebraska.
The figures represent reported births among women ages 15-44, rather than a general fertility rate based on births per 1,000 women of all ages or a ranking of total births.
In 2024, Lakewood again had more births than any other municipality in New Jersey, with a total of 5,420 babies born that year, according to data compiled by TLS.
Statewide, there were 101,357 births across New Jersey in 2024. Ocean County, which includes Lakewood, accounted for 10,812 of those births—more than 10% of the state’s total. Lakewood alone represented just over half of all births in the county, and 5.3% of the statewide total.
K9hara
you would think a for profit hospital would want to have a maternity department here
Voss is duss nogaih tzu meffarsem zein, shiene genucck sinah oif untz
Well with the shortage of OBGYN’s in this town, not sure what everyone will do.
New Study Shows Lakewood, NJ Has More Yarmulka-Clad People Than Any Other Town In NJ
A new study conducted by the ‘Institute For Yarmulkah Research’ reveals that there are more people wearing yarmulkas in Lakewood, NJ than in any other town in NJ.
“We’re talking about thousands upon thousands of yarmulkas!” said Michael Kopelitch, the institute’s leading expert in kipas, fedoras and other religious-oriented head coverings.”
Yaakov Lamdenovich, who recently relocated his seforim store from Bearcreek, Montana to Lakewood, NJ insists that yarmulkah sales has been booming for him ever since he left Bearcreek and settled in Lakewood.
“I’m not sure why, but the yarmulkah business in Bearcreek, Montana is pretty weak,” he said, “I almost went broke there. For some reason or another, yarmulka sales has never really taken off over there. Go figure…”
“But Lakewood has been an absolute goldmine for me,” he said, “I mean, I must have sold over a thousand yarmulkas in the past six months alone! Plus, I’ve got thousands of yarmulkas on backorder right now!”
“And the siddurim business ain’t too bad here either,” he added. “Apparently, davening is extremely popular around here, My siddurim are going fast – I mean really fast, like hot cakes and my wife’s gefilte fish!”
Mr. Kopelitch from the Yarmulka Research Institue offered up a possible theory to explain the Lakewood/Yarmulkah phenomenon.
“Lakewood is home to many orthodox jews,” he said, “and orthodox jews apparently have an affinity for yarmulkas.., and for large families too….”