How does marriage vary by state?
Utah has the highest marriage rate and the youngest average marriage age for both men and women.
Does love last? According to the Census Bureau (CENSUS), American marriages last an average of 20 years as of 2024. But that could vary depending on where you live or how old you are — residents in the northeast, where the population is older on average, tend to report longer marriages than folks in the rest of the country.
The government doesn’t just track marriage data for the romanticism of evaluating love against national and state averages: federal agencies use marriage and divorce data to assess funding needs for programs with spousal benefits, measure the effectiveness of current family policies, and forecast future policy.
How do marriage and divorce rates vary by state?
The Census Bureau calculates marriage and divorce rates by looking at the number of people age 15 and up who married or divorced in the last year.
Utah had the nation’s highest marriage rate in 2024: 24.5 new marriages for every 1,000 people. Second highest was Washington, DC, with 22.1, followed by Idaho with 21.2.
Utah has the highest marriage rate and Oklahoma has the highest divorce rate.
Number of people married and divorced in 2024 per 1,000 (ages 15+)
The highest divorce rate nationwide was in Oklahoma, where there were 9.7 divorces per 1,000 people. Rhode Island had the lowest rate — 5.1 divorces per 1,000 — with New Jersey (5.2) and Maine (5.3) next.
Washington, DC, had a lower divorce rate than any state, 4.9 per 1,000.
At what age do most people get married for the first time?
Both men and women are marrying later in life. In 2024, the median ages for a first marriage were 30.2 for men and 28.6 for women. In 2014, they were 29.3 for men and 27.0 for women; in 2004, 27.4 and 25.3.
The median marriage age has steadily risen since 1956, which had the lowest recorded median marriage ages: 22.5 for men and 20.1 for women.
At the state level, women in 2024 married earliest in Utah, at a median age of 25.2. For men, Utah and Arkansas tied with a median age of 27.2.
On the older end of the spectrum, men in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire marry for the first time at a median age of 32.4. Women wait longer in Washington, DC (32.3) and in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (tied at 30.9).
Women marry youngest in Utah and oldest in Washington, DC.
Median age of women at first marriage, 2024
Men marry youngest in Utah and Arkansas (tied) and oldest in the Northeast.
Median age of men at first marriage, 2024
Which states have the largest shares of people who have ever been married?
Nationally, 65.2% of people aged 15+ have been married at least once.
State-wise, Wyoming has the largest proportion of residents who have ever married, 72.0%, followed by West Virginia (71.1%) and Idaho (71.0%). New York has the lowest at 60.6%, followed by California (61.3%) and Rhode Island (61.4%).
Washington, DC, is an outlier: 44.9% of its residents have been or are married, the lowest share nationwide.
Wyoming has the most people who have been married — DC the least.
Percentage of people ages 15+ that have been married, 2024
Which states have the longest-lasting marriages?
On average, marriages last longest in Vermont (22.6 years), Maine (22.5), and Wisconsin (22.5). This is related in part to the median age of state residents — marriage lengths appear to correlate with a population’s average age.
Vermont has the longest average marriages and the second-oldest median age of any state, 43.9. Maine has an average age of 44.9 — the oldest state in the union.
The shortest median marriages are in Alaska (16.3 years), Nevada (17.7), and Texas (17.8). With an average age of 35.9, Texas residents are the third-youngest among states and Washington, DC; Alaskans are fourth-youngest at 36.3.
States with longer average marriages also tend to have older residents.
Median age and median duration of current marriage in years, by state, 2024
With an average marriage length of 12.1 years, Washington, DC, is again an outlier: the average age of Washingtonians is 34.9, making DC marriages shorter than marriages in states with similar median ages.
Utah, the youngest state, is also an outlier but for the opposite reason; its marriages are longer relative to its median age.
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