Cost and Access · Population and Global Health
Abstract
Gallup poll of 1,002 US adults, conducted July 7-21, 2025, released September 4, 2025. Americans continue to say that the ideal family size includes an average of 2.7 children. Distribution: none 2%, one child 4%, two children 40%, three children 27%, four children 11%, five or more 4%. Preferences for one or two children (44%) are statistically tied with preferences for three or more (42%). The mean ideal has held at 2.7 across the past three readings, in 2018, 2023 and 2025.
