Marriage by the Numbers

Family Profile No. 14, 2019
Authors: Wendy D. Manning & Krista K. Payne

Summer is the season for weddings in the United States. It is a time for celebrating and bringing together family and friends. Here are some marriage facts to help newlyweds understand more about their new marital status.

Number of Marriages

• In 2017, there were 2,236,496 marriages in the U.S.¹

Number of Married Couples

• There were over 63.7 million married couples in the U.S. in 2018.²

Share of the Adult Population Who Are Married

• About one-half of the U.S. adult population is currently married.²

Median Age at 1st Marriage

• The median at first marriage is approaching 30 years for men and 28 years for women.³

Share of Marriages That Are Remarriages

• Among women who married in 2017, 27% were entering a remarriage.⁴

Recent Family Profiles on Marriage

• FP-19-27
  • Marriage to Divorce Ratio in the U.S.: Demographic Variation, 2018
• FP-19-24
  • Marriage to Divorce Ratio in the U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2018
• FP-19-22
  • Marriage Rate in the U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2018
• FP-19-17
  • The Retreat from Remarriage, 1950-2017
    
• FP-19-16
  • Family Formation Experiences: Women’s Median Ages at First Marriage and First Birth, 1979 & 2016
    
• FP-19-15
  • Family Formation Experiences: Shares of Women Who Married and Had a Birth, 1979 & 2016
• High School Seniors’ Ideal Time for Marriage, 2017
  • FP-19-12
•  High School Seniors’ Expectations to Marry, 2017
  • FP-19-11
• High School Seniors’ Attitudes Toward Cohabitation as a Testing Ground for Marriage, 2017
  • FP-19-10
• First Marriage vs. Remarriage in the U.S., 2017
  • FP-19-08
• Median Age at First Marriage: Geographic Variation, 2017
  • FP-19-07
• Median Age at First Marriage, 2017
  • FP-19-06
• Age Variation in the First Marriage Rate, 1990 & 2017
  • FP-19-05
• Marriage-to-Divorce Ratio in the U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2017
  • FP-19-03
• Marriage Rate in the U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2017
  • FP-18-20

Suggested Citation:
Manning, W. D. & Payne, K. K. (2019). Marriage by the numbers. Family Profiles, FP-19-14. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-19-14.

1. CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System
2. IPUMS-CPS, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org
3. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, March and Annual Social and Economic Supplements, link
4. Schweizer, 2019 FP-19-08