Flickr user Koffiemetkoek

While the overall teen birth rate is the lowest it has been this century in Beaufort County, the birth rate for mothers between the ages of 15 and 17 has crept back up.

In data presented by the S.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the teen birth rate in Beaufort County from 2009 to 2010, the birth rate for 18–19 year olds decreased by 24% and the birth rate for 15–17 year olds increased by 20% (see chart below).

However in every age category measured from 2000 to 2010 the local teen birth rate fell 23%, settling at 43.2 teen moms per 1,000. But that decline was most intense in the white population, falling 32%, and only 2% for the black population.

Jasper County showed a similar pattern, falling 34% overall, and 67% for teens aged 15 to 17, and 48% for the white population and 29% for the black population.

And both counties exceeded the statewide fall of 18%, settling at  42.6 teen moms per 1,000.

Beaufort County ZIP codes with highest number of births in 2010: 29902 (13), 29906 (57), 29910 (48), 29920 (20), 29926 (20).