The Demographic Shift Hitting New England: Where Deaths Are Outpacing Births

It seems logical that if more people die than are born, you will eventually run out of people, right? People die every day, but the hope is that the number of new births outpaces the number of deaths. It appears that doesn't always happen.

Dorothy Neufeld wrote for Visual Capitalist that "natural population growth is slowing across much of America."

"According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 17 states recorded more deaths than births between July 2024 and July 2025, up from only four states during much of the 2010s," Neufeld wrote.

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How New England States Rank in Natural Population Decline

Four of the states to experience more deaths than births during the period are here in New England.

Those states were Maine, which experienced 5,019 more deaths than births – the third-largest gap in the nation – followed by New Hampshire (-2,167), Vermont (-1,769), and Rhode Island (-304).

Four Of Six New England States Had More Deaths Than Births

Connecticut registered 2,283 more births than deaths, and Massachusetts welcomed 8,419 more people than it lost. Massachusetts residents are still having fewer children than before.

Nationwide Look at Deaths Outpacing Births

Of the 17 states to register more deaths than births, Pennsylvania led the pack with 10,708, followed by West Virginia with 7,887. The other states with more deaths than births during the period were Michigan, Oregon, Mississippi, Alabama, New Mexico, Florida, Arkansas, Ohio, Delaware, Montana, and Kentucky.

Political Concerns Over America's Declining Population

Vice President J.D. Vance, who with his wife Usha recently welcomed their fourth child, has long sounded the alarm about America's declining population.

"Our people are not having enough children to replace themselves," Vance said in August 2024. "That should bother us."

Four Of Six New England States Had More Deaths Than Births

WOUB Public Media reported that Vance "outlined the obvious concern that Social Security depends on younger workers' contributions."

"We want babies not just because they are economically useful," Vance said. "We want more babies because children are good, and we believe children are good because we are not sociopaths."

The Associated Press stated Vance has been consistent about his views and concerns about the dwindling population.