50 states ranked by number of preterm births

California has the most premature births among all states, with 40,907 such births recorded in 2017, according to a ranking from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The ranking is based on 2017 birthing data from the CDC's National Vital Statistics Reports. Preterm births are defined as infants born before 37 weeks.

In total, there were 382,726 premature births among U.S. women of all races in 2017, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Here's how each state stacks up:

1. California — 40,907 preterm births in 2017
2. Texas — 40,403
3. Florida — 22,851
4. New York — 20,607
5. Illinois — 15,551
6. Georgia — 14,756
7. Ohio — 14,168
8. Pennsylvania — 12,969
9. North Carolina — 12,591
10. Michigan — 11,406
11. New Jersey — 9,613
12. Virginia — 9,582
13. Tennessee — 8,962
14. Indiana — 8,087
15. Louisiana — 7,725
16. Missouri — 7,702
17. Arizona — 7,578
18. Maryland — 7,491
19. Washington — 7,334
20. Alabama — 7,090
21. South Carolina — 6,396
22. Massachusetts — 6,272
23. Wisconsin — 6,260
24. Minnesota — 6,111
25. Kentucky — 6,092
26. Colorado — 5,638
27. Oklahoma — 5,592
28. Mississippi — 5,061
29. Utah — 4,588
30. Arkansas — 4,268
31. Nevada — 3,833
32. Oregon — 3,640
33. Iowa — 3,524
34. Kansas — 3,495
35. Connecticut — 3,338
36. Nebraska — 2,556
37. New Mexico — 2,435
38. West Virginia — 2,237
39. Idaho — 1,941
40. Hawaii — 1,829
41. South Dakota — 1,125
42. Montana — 1,118
43. Delaware — 1,108
44. Maine — 1,066
45. New Hampshire — 1,010
46. North Dakota — 944
47. Alaska — 937
48. Rhode Island — 882
49. Wyoming — 616
50. Vermont — 425
    
    

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