The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2023, there was an average of 1.94 children under 18 per family in the United States. This is a decrease from 2.33 children under 18 per family in 1960.

Familial structure in the United States

If there’s one thing the United States is known for, it’s diversity. Whether this is diversity in ethnicity, culture, or family structure, there is something for everyone in the U.S. Two-parent households in the U.S. are declining, and the number of families with no children are increasing. The number of families with children has stayed more or less constant since 2000.

Adoptions in the U.S.

Families in the U.S. don’t necessarily consist of parents and their own biological children. In 2021, around 35,940 children were adopted by married couples, and 13,307 children were adopted by single women.

Around *** million families in the United States had three or more children under 18 living in the household in 2023. In that same year, about ***** million households had no children under 18 living in the household.

Australia Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: Multiple Family data was reported at 1.200 Person in 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.400 Person for 2018. Australia Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: Multiple Family data is updated yearly, averaging 1.300 Person from Jun 2004 (Median) to 2020, with 9 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.500 Person in 2016 and a record low of 1.200 Person in 2020. Australia Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: Multiple Family data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.H039: Survey of Income and Housing: Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: by Family Composition.

The average American family in 2023 consisted of 3.15 persons. Families in the United States According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family. As of 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau counted about 84.33 million families in the United States. The average family consisted of 3.15 persons in 2021, down from 3.7 in the 1960s. This is reflected in the decrease of children in family households overall. In 1970, about 56 percent of all family households had children under the age of 18 living in the household. This percentage declined to about 40 percent in 2020. The average size of a family household varies greatly from state to state. The largest average families can be found in Utah, California, and Hawaii, while the smallest families can be found in Wisconsin, Vermont and Maine.

In 2021, the average size of families in Utah was 3.51 people, the largest out of any state. California, Hawaii, Texas, and Alaska rounded out the top five states with the largest average family size in that year. Nationwide, the average family size was 3.15 people.

Pakistan Average Number per Household: Children data was reported at 2.770 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.800 Person for 2014. Pakistan Average Number per Household: Children data is updated yearly, averaging 2.880 Person from Jun 2002 (Median) to 2016, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.310 Person in 2002 and a record low of 2.770 Person in 2016. Pakistan Average Number per Household: Children data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Pakistan – Table PK.H005: Household Integrated Economic Survey: Average Numbers per Household.

Data on census family structure, presence of children, and average number of persons per census family, for census families, Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, 2021, 2016 and 2011 censuses.

Families of tax filers; Census families by total income, family type and number of children (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Pakistan Average Number per Household: Urban: Children data was reported at 2.400 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.440 Person for 2014. Pakistan Average Number per Household: Urban: Children data is updated yearly, averaging 2.515 Person from Jun 2002 (Median) to 2016, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.010 Person in 2002 and a record low of 2.390 Person in 2012. Pakistan Average Number per Household: Urban: Children data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Pakistan – Table PK.H005: Household Integrated Economic Survey: Average Numbers per Household.

Australia Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: One Family: Couple with Dependent Children data was reported at 1.900 Person in 2020. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1.900 Person for 2018. Australia Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: One Family: Couple with Dependent Children data is updated yearly, averaging 1.900 Person from Jun 2003 (Median) to 2020, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.000 Person in 2008 and a record low of 1.900 Person in 2020. Australia Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: One Family: Couple with Dependent Children data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.H039: Survey of Income and Housing: Average Number of Dependent Children in Household: by Family Composition.

In 2023, there were around 9.84 thousand households with unmarried children under 18 years in Japan. That year, those households had 1.65 thousand unmarried minors on average.

Average number of children per household by working status within households and household composition

Graph and download economic data for Total Families with Children under 18 Years Old with Married Couple (FMLWCUMC) from 1950 to 2024 about 18 years +, married, family, child, household survey, and USA.

According to a survey conducted in July 2023 in France, more than ********* of French people without children, aged between 25 and 43, believed the ideal number of children a family should have was ***, ** percent thought the ideal number was just ***. Only ***** percent believed it was ideal to have **** or more children. On the other hand, for ** percent of those surveyed, it was ideal for a family to have no children at all. In 2021, **** percent of French families had *** children.

The count and description of the families of the Basque Country is carried out using various statistical sources. On the one hand, family counts are carried out through the Population and Housing Census; on the other hand, the Demographic Survey (ED) operation, of an intercensal nature and of five-year periodicity, provides information on the formation of families, family size, preferences on the number and spacing of children, as well as numerous other characteristics, using the method of retrospective approach to demographic phenomena.

The average American household consisted of 2.51 people in 2023.

Households in the U.S.

As shown in the statistic, the number of people per household has decreased over the past decades.

The U.S. Census Bureau defines a household as follows: “a household includes all the persons who occupy a housing unit as their usual place of residence. A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is occupied (or if vacant, is intended for occupancy) as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall. The occupants may be a single family, one person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of related or unrelated persons who share living arrangements. (People not living in households are classified as living in group quarters.).”

The population of the United States has been growing steadily for decades. Since 1960, the number of households more than doubled from 53 million to over 131 million households in 2023.

Most of these households, about 34 percent, are two-person households. The distribution of U.S. households has changed over the years though. The percentage of single-person households has been on the rise since 1970 and made up the second largest proportion of households in the U.S. in 2022, at 28.88 percent.

In concordance with the rise of single-person households, the percentage of family households with own children living in the household has declined since 1970 from 56 percent to 40.26 percent in 2022.

United States US: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data was reported at 1.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.843 Ratio for 2015. United States US: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data is updated yearly, averaging 2.002 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.654 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 1.738 Ratio in 1976. United States US: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s USA – Table US.World Bank: Health Statistics. Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: it can indicate the status of women within households and a woman’s decision about the number and spacing of children.

Families of tax filers; Census families with children by age of children and children by age groups (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Data on census family structure, presence of children, and average number of persons per census family, for census families, Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, 2021, 2016 and 2011 censuses.