One of the effects of the economic recession which started seven years ago and has only recently truly started to subside was a significant drop in the U.S. birthrate. To be perfectly honest, we are somewhat surprised that something as large as that got swept under the rug, or was, at least, largely ignored. According to demographers, we are in for a “baby bounce”, as they call it, an increase in birthrates across the country now that the economy is on a steady upturn.

The latest census numbers reveal which parts of the country have already started bouncing back from the recession-caused drop in birthrates, leading the U.S. when it comes to the percentage of the population that is under the age of 18.

The numbers show a very clear trend of areas with a large Hispanic population boasting the highest birthrate, such as parts of Texas closest to the Mexican border, as well as certain parts of Arizona. For example, the city which ranked No. 1 according to the latest census was Pharr in Texas, located very near the Mexican border and boasting 36 percent of residents under the age of 18. The Hispanic population makes up for 93 percent of the city’s residents.

The second spot is shared by Pasco, Washington and Mission, Texas, both cities where the Hispanic population makes up more than half of the city’s residents and both home to 35 percent of the under-18 population. About 34% of the populations of Victorville, California, West Jordan, Utah, Edinburg, Texas and Laredo, Texas are made up of people under the age of 18. Gilbert, Arizona and Passaic, Texas have 33 percent of residents who are under 18 and they round off the top 10 of U.S. cities with the largest percentage of children.

When we are talking about individual states and their children percentages, you might be surprised that Utah has the largest numbers, with more than 30 percent of Utahans being younger than 18. This is actually no surprise as the Mormon tradition values large families with many children and Utah is still predominantly Mormon. Idaho and Texas are right behind with 26.4 percent. While on the other end of the spectrum we have Vermont and Maine with just under 20 percent of the population being children.

We would also like to point out that it is important for the rest of the country to look up to the aforementioned cities and states, as currently, the projected deficit is 2.1 children per woman when it comes to keeping the population stable in the United States.