Milton Keynes among the 10 English cities with the lowest teenage pregnancy rates

Milton Keynes has one of the lower teenage pregnancy rates among cities in England and Wales, ranking 39th out of 48 in a new study.

The city recorded 11.1 under-18 conceptions for every 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17 in 2023. That is below the England average of 13.5, and lower than several larger cities including Birmingham (12.7) and Manchester (12.8). It also edges out Cambridge, which ranks 38th with 11.5.

The study, by My Health Protected, ranked each city using the latest Office for National Statistics data. It looked at one metric: the under-18 conception rate, which includes pregnancies that led to a birth as well as those that ended in an abortion.

Around 65 under-18 conceptions were recorded in Milton Keynes. More than two thirds (69.2%) ended in an abortion, higher than the England figure of 61.5%.

The city's rate has stayed almost unchanged in the past year, at 11.0 in 2022. Over the past decade, however, it has more than halved, from 23.9 in 2013.

Milton Keynes is also well clear of the cities at the top of the ranking. Hull has the highest rate with 27.3, more than double the figure for Milton Keynes. Peterborough, also in the study, ranks 12th with 19.2.

At the other end of the table, Winchester has the lowest rate in the study at 4.3, followed by Oxford at 6.3.

The study found that the cities with the highest teenage pregnancy rates were:

1. Kingston upon Hull (27.3)

2. Wakefield (25.2)

3. Stoke-on-Trent (23.5)

4. Wrexham (22.9)

5. Lincoln (21.2)

6. Doncaster (20.0)

7. Liverpool (19.6)

7. Portsmouth (19.6)

9. Nottingham (19.5)

9. Sunderland (19.5)

Source: The Office for National Statistics’ Conceptions in England and Wales: 2023 release, published in June 2026