Marriage Statistics: Households and First-Marriage Age
Published September 15, 2026 · StatsGalore
Households that were married-couple households in 2025 [1]
Married-couple households represented 47% of U.S. households in 2025, compared with 66% in 1975. Over the same span, the estimated median age at first marriage increased for both men and women, according to the Census Bureau. [1]
The numbers
| Measure | 1975 | 2025 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Married-couple share of all households | 66% | 47% | [1] |
| Median age at first marriage: men | 23.5 years | 30.8 years | [1] |
| Median age at first marriage: women | 21.1 years | 28.4 years | [1] |
| Married-couple households with their own children under 18 | 54% | About 37% | [1] |
The household share is not a marriage rate
The married-couple share classifies households. It differs from the percentage of adults who are married and from a marriage rate counting marriages per population during a year.
A married couple normally contributes two people but one household. Other household types can contain one person or several. Moving between household and person denominators without saying so can substantially change the meaning of a statistic.
[1]First-marriage age has a specific meaning
The median splits the estimated first-marriage age distribution into two halves. It is not the average age of everyone who is currently married and it does not describe remarriages.
The reported medians increased by 7.3 years for both men and women between the two comparison years. That subtraction uses the rounded source estimates. It summarizes the shift in the published medians without explaining every individual marriage decision.
[1]Children in married-couple households
The source reports that about 37% of married-couple households included their own children under age 18 in 2025. The denominator here is married-couple households, not all households and not all children.
The phrase own children and the age limit are part of the definition. An empty-nest couple can have children who no longer live at home, while other child relationships may fall into different survey categories. The statistic is about a household's current composition.
[1]What the comparison can support
The figures document a shift in household structure and in the estimated timing of first marriage. They are useful for describing long-term social change when the source's definitions are retained.
They do not establish the quality of marriages, the reasons people marry later, or the probability that a marriage will end. Divorce rates, lifetime marriage histories, and relationship satisfaction are separate subjects requiring separate evidence.
[1]Sources & notes
Census Bureau 2025 families and living-arrangements release, comparing CPS ASEC 1975 and 2025. Median first-marriage ages are estimates. The household, married-couple-household, and person-level measures have distinct denominators.
Source review: 2026-09-15. Article publication and underlying data dates are separate. How we use statistics · Suggest a correction