Unmarried Households in the United States
 

On September 28, 2010, the Census Bureau released a report explaining how we lived as Americans in 2009.  The report shows that for the fifth consecutive year, the majority of the nation's households are headed by unmarried Americans and for the second year in a row most states fall into the "unmarried majority" household category. 

The report lists 26 states in which most households are headed by unmarried adults, up from only six states when the full census was taken in 2000.

In terms of raw numbers, more than 106 million American adults are unmarried, up from 104 million in 2008.   

Thomas F. Coleman, Executive Director, Unmarried America
 September 28, 2010
 Unmarried America is an information service for unmarried and single Americans.

FOR RESULTS OF THE FULL CENSUS FOR 2010, CLICK HERE.

  
 
Census Data Shows that Unmarried Households Are Moving Toward a Majority in the Nation.
Location Unmarried Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people

per 1990 Census
snapshot on
April 1, 1990

 Unmarried Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people

per 2000 Census
snapshot on
April 1, 2000

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2001 Census
Supplemental
Survey
average for 12 months
in 2001

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2002 Census
American
Community Survey
average for 12 months
in 2002

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2003 Census
American Community Survey
average for 12 months
in 2003

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2004 Census
American Community Survey
average for 12
months
in 2004

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2005 Census
American Community Survey
average for 12
months
in 2005

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2006 Census
American Community Survey
average for 12
months
in 2006

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2007 Census
American Community Survey
average for 12
months
in 2007

 

 Unmarried
Households

% of households headed
by unmarried people
 per 2008 Census
American Community Survey
average for 12
months
in 2008

 

 Unmarried
Households

% of households
headed
by unmarried people
 per 2009 Census
American Community
Survey
average for 12
months
in 2009

 
    View
unmarried majority cities		 View detailed tables
for 2001
Supplemental Survey
for Nation and States		 From Census Report
issued on Sept. 3,
2003		 From Census Report
issued on Aug. 26, 2004 		From Census Report
issued on Aug. 30, 2005 		From Census Report
issued on Aug. 15, 2006 		From Census Report
issued on Sept. 12, 2007 		From Census Report
issued on Sept. 23, 2008		 From Census
Report
issued on Sept. 22, 2009		 From Census
Report
issued on Sept. 28,
 2010
United States 44.9 48.3 49.4 49.5 49.6 49.8 50.3 50.3 50.3 50.8 50.9
Alabama 43.0 47.8 49.3 47.1 49.5 49.1 50.2 50.6 50.9 51.2 52.1
Alaska 43.8 47.5 48.4 45.0 49.6 47.8 50.1 49.0 48.3 51.1 49.6
Arizona 45.4 48.1 49.9 47.4 49.9 48.8 51.1 50.3 50.5 51.3 50.6
Arkansas 40.8 45.7 46.5 46.6 47.9 50.3 48.9 48.6 48.3 50.4 49.7
California 47.3 48.9 50.5 50.6 50.0 50.0 50.3 50.2 50.3 50.9 50.5
Colorado 46.2 48.2 49.6 48.0 48.0 50.2 50.1 49.4 49.8 50.1 49.2
Connecticut 44.4 48.0 47.8 47.5 48.9 48.3 49.0 48.6 49.0 49.7 49.6
Delaware 44.2 48.7 48.9 48.8 50.2 51.3 49.7 50.9 50.4 50.5 51.2
Florida 45.6 49.6 51.1 51.1 51.8 51.7 52.1 51.4 51.8 52.2 52.3
Georgia 44.8 48.5 49.3 49.9 50.1 50.7 50.5 51.5 51.1 51.4 51.7
Hawaii 40.9 46.4 47.3 47.3 48.4 47.6 46.6 48.5 48.3 48.7 48.7
Idaho 37.8 41.1 42.2 41.9 40.7 42.1 43.7 42.8 42.3 43.7 42.4
Illinois 45.9 48.7 50.7 50.1 49.5 49.8 50.3 50.1 50.5 51.2 51.4
Indiana 41.8 46.4 47.1 48.0 47.2 47.8 48.4 48.7 48.6 49.6 49.5
Iowa 40.8 44.9 45.3 46.1 46.1 46.4 46.8 46.9 47.3 47.8 48.1
Kansas 41.5 45.3 46.9 48.2 46.9 47.0 47.3 47.7 47.2 48.0 49.5
Kentucky 40.8 46.1 45.7 46.9 46.4 47.0 48.5 49.6 49.7 49.7 49.5
Louisiana 46.4 51.1 53.3 53.0 52.8 53.1 54.1 52.2 53.3 53.3 54.1
Maine 41.9 47.5 46.8 47.5 49.2 48.6 48.7 49.5 47.9 50.01 50.2
Maryland 45.8 49.8 50.9 49.8 50.7 52.2 51.0 51.3 51.6 51.9 51.7
Massachusetts 47.9 51.0 51.9 50.7 51.3 51.7 52.4 51.9 52.4 52.7 52.8
Michigan 44.9 48.6 49.0 49.4 49.2 49.6 49.9 49.9 50.3 50.3 50.8
Minnesota 42.8 46.3 45.4 47.1 46.7 46.2 47.3 47.9 47.9 48.6 48.4
Mississippi 45.3 50.2 52.0 51.2 52.2 52.7 53.5 53.7 52.6 53.4 53.7
Missouri 43.7 48.0 47.9 48.0 48.5 48.6 49.7 49.9 49.9 50.2 50.7
Montana 42.3 46.4 45.8 45.9 47.5 47.5 47.9 47.0 47.6 48.8 49.9
Nebraska 41.8 45.8 46.5 46.4 46.3 46.7 47.6 47.1 47.9 48.2 49.0
Nevada 48.6 50.3 51.4 51.5 52.2 52.4 52.5 52.6 51.8 52.8 53.2
New Hampshire 40.3 44.7 44.4 45.2 45.3 45.5 45.7 46.9 45.0 45.4 46.5
New Jersey 43.5 46.5 46.9 45.8 46.5 47.2 48.2 48.0 48.1 48.5 48.9
New Mexico 44.0 49.6 50.6 51.1 51.3 54.0 52.1 52.4 53.9 54.1 53.2
New York 50.1 53.4 54.1 54.7 54.5 54.1 55.1 54.9 54.6 55.0 55.3
North Carolina 43.4 47.5 47.2 49.1 49.4 49.7 50.7 50.6 50.2 50.6 50.9
North Dakota 40.9 46.6 48.3 48.8 47.9 48.2 49.0 49.2 49.5 48.8 49.5
Ohio 43.9 48.6 50.3 50.1 49.6 50.1 50.6 51.1 51.0 51.7 52.0
Oklahoma 42.3 46.5 47.4 46.9 47.9 49.7 49.0 49.5 49.5 49.7 50.8
Oregon 44.4 48.1 49.8 50.1 49.7 50.3 50.6 50.4 50.1 50.4 50.2
Pennsylvania 44.3 48.3 48.8 49.2 50.7 49.2 50.2 50.4 50.3 51.1 50.9
Rhode Island 46.5 51.8 54.8 51.5 53.1 53.3 53.2 53.0 52.9 54.7 53.9
South Carolina 43.6 48.9 50.1 50.1 50.1 50.1 51.8 51.8 52.3 51.7 51.8
South Dakota 41.1 45.8 45.2 46.6 45.6 47.0 48.1 46.8 48.0 48.6 48.8
Tennessee 42.8 47.4 49.1 48.9 49.4 50.2 50.2 50.4 50.8 50.3 50.7
Texas 43.4 46.0 47.4 46.7 47.0 48.1 48.3 48.5 48.3 49.0 49.4
Utah 35.2 36.8 38.3 36.2 37.6 37.0 38.5 38.1 37.7 39.5 38.3
Vermont 43.6 47.5 46.5 46.5 49.6 48.2 51.5 49.9 50.1 49.4 50.1
Virginia 43.2 47.2 47.9 48.1 48.2 47.8 48.8 49.5 49.4 48.7 49.2
Washington 45.0 48.0 49.8 49.9 50.8 50.0 50.2 50.04 49.9 50.1 49.8
West Virginia 41.0 46.0 46.8 48.1 48.3 47.5 47.5 47.5 48.0 49.6 49.5
Wisconsin 42.5 46.8 48.6 48.0 48.5 48.4 49.2 48.5 48.7 48.9 49.5
Wyoming 40.3 45.2 46.5 46.8 45.7 47.0 46.6 46.8 48.4 47.6 45.5


American Community Survey

A New Approach for Timely Information

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. It is intended to eliminate the need for the long form in the 2010 Census. The ACS will collect information from U.S. households similar to what was collected on the Census 2000 long form, such as income, commute time to work, home value, veteran status, and other important data. As with the official U.S. census, information about individuals will remain confidential.

Three Million Households to be Surveyed

The ACS will collect and produce population and housing information every year instead of every ten years. About three million households will be surveyed each year. Collecting data every year will reduce the cost of the official decennial census, and will provide more up-to-date information throughout the decade about trends in the U.S. population at the local community level. A similar program is planned for Puerto Rico.

Expanding Local Coverage

The ACS began in 1996 and has expanded each subsequent year. Data from the 2004 ACS are available for over 800 geographies, including 241 counties, 206 congressional districts, most metropolitan areas of 250,000 population or more, all 50 states, and the District of Columbia.

The Census Bureau plans to conduct the ACS in every county of the U.S., contacting the residents of three million housing units. Within three years, data should be available for all areas of 20,000 or more. For small areas less than 20,000, it will take five years to accumulate a large enough sample to provide estimates with accuracy similar to the decennial census.