North America

A life that begins in United States

One in every 37 babies in the world is born here: about 3,622,919 a year, 6.9 a minute.

Population: 341,784,857
Births a year: 3,622,919
Life expectancy: 79
Children who die before 5 (per 1,000): 6.5

Health and survival

Life expectancy, women (years)
81.4
World: 75.9
Life expectancy, men (years)
76.5
World: 71
Babies who die before 1 (per 1,000)
5.5
World: 27.8
Children who die before 5 (per 1,000)
6.5
World: 37.6
Mothers who die in childbirth (per 100,000 births)
17
World: 189
Adults living with HIV (%)
≈ 0.1
World: 0.7
Adults who smoke (%)
16
World: 20
Alcohol per adult (litres a year)
9.9
World: 4.6
Road deaths (per 100,000)
12.7
World: 17
Homicides (per 100,000)
5.8
World: 4.7

Family and school

Children per woman
1.63
World: 2.85
Women married before 18 (%)
≈ 17
World: 18
Children in primary school (%)
95
World: 89
Secondary school enrolment (%)
97
World: 81
Higher education enrolment (%)
79
World: 48
Children aged 7–14 who work (%)
≈ 14.3
World: 11.9

Money and work

Income per person (PPP)
$76,931
World: $21,797
Income inequality (Gini, 0–100)
42
World: 34
Living on under $3 a day (%)
1.1
World: 9.9
Unemployment (%)
4.2
World: 5.1
Jobs in farming (%)
2
World: 27
Women in the workforce (%)
56
World: 48
Health costs paid out of pocket (%)
11
World: 37

Home and connection

Living in cities (%)
80
World: 58
Access to electricity (%)
100
World: 92
Safe drinking water (%)
100
World: 91
Internet users (%)
95
World: 72

Peace and wellbeing

Life satisfaction (0–10)
6.82
World: 5.4
Deaths in armed conflict (per 100,000 a year)
0
World: 2.43
Refugees abroad (% of population)
0
World: 0.34

≈ Estimated from the region

From 1960 to 2050

How life here has changed, and where UN projections expect it to go. The dashed part is a projection.

Life expectancy

1960: 69.9 → 2026: 79.1 → 2050: 83.3

World

Children who die before 5 (per 1,000)

1960: 30 → 2026: 6 → 2050: 5

World

Children per woman

1960: 3.7 → 2026: 1.6 → 2050: 1.6

World

Living in cities (%)

1960: 70 → 2026: 80 → 2050: 86

World

Nobody chooses where they are born

In the game, the country is drawn by the real share of births: United States comes up about once in every 37 lives.

Compare United States with

Other countries in North America

All 178 countries →

Canada

Sources: World Bank (WDI), UN World Population Prospects, Our World in Data, World Happiness Report, UCDP and PRIO. Updated 2026-10-18.