Unmarried Households in the United States
 


On May 4, 2011, the Census Bureau began releasing data from the 2010 Census. 

The 2010 census shows that for the United States as a whole, 51.6 percent of households are headed by unmarried adults, up from 44.9 percent in 1990 and 48.3 percent in 2000.  The number of states where most households are headed by unmarried adults has risen from one in 1990 and six in 2000 to 39 states in 2010.  The American Community Survey for 2009 showed 26 states with an unmarried majority.

In terms of raw numbers, more than 108 million American adults were unmarried in 2010, up from 106 million in 2009 and 104 million in 2008.   

Thomas F. Coleman, Executive Director, Unmarried America
 May 26, 2011
 Unmarried America is an information service for unmarried and single Americans.

  
 
 
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 2010 Census
snapshot on
April 1, 2010
    View
unmarried majority cities		  
United States 44.9 48.3 51.6
Alabama 43.0 47.8 52.1
Alaska 43.8 47.5 50.6
Arizona 45.4 48.1 51.9
Arkansas 40.8 45.7 50.5
California 47.3 48.9 50.6
Colorado 46.2 48.2 50.8
Connecticut 44.4 48.0 51.0
Delaware 44.2 48.7 51.7
Florida 45.6 49.6 53.4
Georgia 44.8 48.5 52.2
Hawaii 40.9 46.4 49.5
Idaho 37.8 41.1 44.7
Illinois 45.9 48.7 51.8
Indiana 41.8 46.4 50.4
Iowa 40.8 44.9 48.8
Kansas 41.5 45.3 48.9
Kentucky 40.8 46.1 50.7
Louisiana 46.4 51.1 55.6
Maine 41.9 47.5 51.5
Maryland 45.8 49.8 52.4
Massachusetts 47.9 51.0 53.7
Michigan 44.9 48.6 52.0
Minnesota 42.8 46.3 49.2
Mississippi 45.3 50.2 54.6
Missouri 43.7 48.0 51.6
Montana 42.3 46.4 50.8
Nebraska 41.8 45.8 49.2
Nevada 48.6 50.3 54.0
New Hampshire 40.3 44.7 47.9
New Jersey 43.5 46.5 48.9
New Mexico 44.0 49.6 54.7
New York 50.1 53.4 56.4
North Carolina 43.4 47.5 51.6
North Dakota 40.9 46.6 51.4
Ohio 43.9 48.6 52.8
Oklahoma 42.3 46.5 50.5
Oregon 44.4 48.1 51.7
Pennsylvania 44.3 48.3 51.8
Rhode Island 46.5 51.8 55.5
South Carolina 43.6 48.9 52.8
South Dakota 41.1 45.8 49.9
Tennessee 42.8 47.4 51.3
Texas 43.4 46.0 49.4
Utah 35.2 36.8 39.0
Vermont 43.6 47.5 51.5
Virginia 43.2 47.2 49.8
Washington 45.0 48.0 50.8
West Virginia 41.0 46.0 50.2
Wisconsin 42.5 46.8 50.4
Wyoming 40.3 45.2 49.1