Trends in Mean Age of Mothers in the United States, 2016 to 2023

The mean age of mothers at first birth increased 0.9 year, from 26.6 in 2016 to 27.5 in 2023. Similar increases were observed for higher-order births, with mean age at birth rising by 1.0 year for second births and 0.9 year for third and higher-order births. All racial and ethnic groups saw an increase in mean age at first birth of 0.4-1.4 years. Mean maternal age at first birth rose across all levels of urbanicity, from large metropolitan counties to rural counties, by 0.7-0.9 year. In 2023, mothers in large metropolitan counties had the highest mean age at first birth (28.5), while those in noncore counties had the lowest (24.8).