About half of Americans say the ideal family size is two children, according to the Pew Research Center. But this wasn’t always the case—the shift to preferring a smaller family occurred around 1971. That likely began “with the wide availability of the birth control pill in the 1960s; the growth of women’s participation in the workforce, which surged in the 1970s; and, of course, the increasing cost of raising kids,” according to the research organization.
However, there are many people in America who don’t share this opinion. Using data from the American Community Survey, MooseRoots found which U.S. counties have the highest percent of families with six or more members in 2014. Only counties with a population over 100,000 are included. Utah counties topped the list, with California and Texas coming in second and third, respectively.
MooseRoots also calculated the average percent of large families over all counties in the nation (4.86%), and noted how much each county on the list is above the average. The top 25 counties are ranked from smallest percent of families of six or more to highest. Ties go to the county with the bigger population.
#24. San Joaquin County, CA
Percent of large families: 10.7%
Percent above average: 120.2%
Population: 701,050
#23. Stanislaus County, CA
Percent of large families: 10.7%
Percent above average: 120.2%
Population: 522,794
#18. Imperial County, CA
Percent of large families: 11.8%
Percent above average: 142.8%
Population: 177,026
#19. Kern County, CA
Percent of large families: 11.8%
Percent above average: 142.8%
Population: 857,730
#16. Riverside County, CA
Percent of large families: 12%
Percent above average: 146.9%
Population: 2,266,899
#13. Fresno County, CA
Percent of large families: 12.3%
Percent above average: 153.1%
Population: 948,844
#12. San Bernardino County, CA
Percent of large families: 12.4%
Percent above average: 155.1%
Population: 2,078,586
#11. Merced County, CA
Percent of large families: 12.6%
Percent above average: 159.3%
Population: 261,609
#10. Monterey County, CA
Percent of large families: 12.7%
Percent above average: 161.3%
Population: 424,927
#8. Kings County, CA
Percent of large families: 12.9%
Percent above average: 165.4%
Population: 151,390
#9. Madera County, CA
Percent of large families: 12.9%
Percent above average: 165.4%
Population: 152,452
#4. Tulare County, CA
Percent of large families: 14.2%
Percent above average: 192.2%
Population: 451,108
