Marriage rates have been on the decline since 1960 and it doesn’t appear that the trend will be reversing any time soon. Millennials are opting to marry later in life while adults of all ages are choosing to cohabitate and raise children outside of marriage at an increasing rate.
Yet, despite the national trend, marriage rates vary widely depending on ethnicity, educational attainment, political leaning, and geographic location. In general, urban cities have much lower marriage rates than their suburban and rural counterparts. Washington D.C., for example, often reports the lowest marriage rate of anywhere in the country.
With that in mind, ConsumersAdvocate.org decided to see which big cities deviate most from the trend and have the most married couples.
Methodology
Data is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2015 release of 5-year estimates. The ACS reports marital status information only for individuals over the age of 15. Using this data, ConsumersAdvocate.org calculated Percent Married by dividing the married population by the total population over the age of 15. For the purposes of this study, the total population over 15 is referred to below as the Total Adult Population. In the event of a tie, the city with the larger Total Married Adults population served as the tiebreaker. In order to be considered, a city must have a Total Adult Population of 500,000 or more.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
10. Dallas, Texas
- Percent Married: 43.14%
- Total Married Adults: 423,057
- Total Adult Population: 980,736
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
9. Phoenix, Arizona
- Percent Married: 44.03%
- Total Married Adults: 516,462
- Total Adult Population: 1,172,972
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
8. Houston, Texas
- Percent Married: 44.94%
- Total Married Adults: 782,062
- Total Adult Population: 1,740,153
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
7. San Diego, California
- Percent Married: 45.29%
- Total Married Adults: 507,729
- Total Adult Population: 1,120,983
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
6. Charlotte, North Carolina
- Percent Married: 45.59%
- Total Married Adults: 285,812
- Total Adult Population: 626,863
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
5. San Antonio, Texas
- Percent Married: 45.61%
- Total Married Adults: 505,408
- Total Adult Population: 1,108,045
Photo Credit: GoodFreePhotos
4. Jacksonville, Florida
- Percent Married: 45.87%
- Total Married Adults: 312,304
- Total Adult Population: 680,787
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
3. Fort Worth, Texas
- Percent Married: 48.89%
- Total Married Adults: 294,285
- Total Adult Population: 601,880
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
2. El Paso, Texas
- Percent Married: 50.38%
- Total Married Adults: 262,060
- Total Adult Population: 520,217
Photo Credit: Wikimedia
1. San Jose, California
- Percent Married: 52.76%
- Total Married Adults: 422,232
- Total Adult Population: 800,320