According to statistics released by the state Department of Health, nearly eight in 10 women who gave birth in Greenville last year were not married. This figure is double the national average of almost 40 percent and trumps the state average of 54 percent.

Greenville’s percentage of births to unwed mothers is also higher than many other cities in the Delta, though Clarksdale and Tunica both have slightly higher percentages.

Mississippi had the country’s third highest percentage of births to unmarried women in 2005, the last year for which comprehensive national data are available. New Mexico and the District of Columbia both had higher percentages.

Utah had the lowest percentage of births to unmarried women at 18 percent.