In a concerning trend, children are disappearing from major urban areas, with cities in California showing the most significant declines.
A recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal reveals that over the last decade, the number of children residing in cities has decreased by 6% nationwide. This drop reflects a growing movement among families to abandon city life in favor of more affordable and spacious living environments.
San Jose, at the heart of Silicon Valley and known for its exorbitant real estate prices, leads this trend, witnessing a formidable 20% reduction in its under-18 population. This ranks San Jose highest among U.S. cities experiencing such significant declines in youth population.
More strikingly, San Jose has seen a 34% decrease in its population of children under the age of five within the past decade, as highlighted by the report.
Los Angeles also reflects similar shifts, with its population of children under 18 dropping by 16% from 2015 to 2024.
Of the 25 cities that have lost the most children in that time frame, six were in California.
San Diego has lost 14% of its children while Fresno, Sacramento and San Francisco have lost 5%, 4% and 3% respectively, according to the analysis, which examined cities with more than 500,000 residents.
Falling birthrates — a nationwide trend, with the number of births falling by 9% over the past decade — are only one factor driving the disappearance of kids from major cities.
The Covid pandemic accelerated the flight of families choosing to leave cities in search of more space and affordable living, the report noted.
“Families had more exit options and they took them,” Connor O’Brien, a fellow at think tank the Institute for Progress, told the WSJ.
A handful of large cities, particularly in the Sun Belt, have bucked the trend and increased their share of kids.
The number of children in Fort Worth, Texas, and Jacksonville, Fla., increased by 11% over a decade, followed by Washington, D.C. and Seattle, which have each increased their kid populations by 10%.