A recent snapshot shows 2.1 divorces per 1,000 population in the U.S. and 5.2 marriages per 1,000 total population, a quick reminder that couple formation and dissolution move at very different paces. At the same time, many divorces do not happen immediately after the wedding, with CDC analysis finding 40% of U.S. divorces involve marriages lasting 8 to 19 years. From remarriage patterns to money stress and the costs of legal and counseling services, these figures make it clear that “relationship status” is only the starting point.
Key Takeaways
- 2021: 40% of divorces in the U.S. involved marriages lasting 8–19 years (CDC analysis)
- 2022: France recorded 130,000 divorces
- About 50% of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce within 20 years, per a widely cited long-run estimate (2016 analysis summarizing earlier demographic evidence)
- 2023: 30% of U.S. adults reported they were married with no children under 18 at home
- 2022: 14.6% of U.S. families were married-couple families with children under 18 (CPS-based estimate)
- 2023: 23% of U.S. children lived with an unmarried partner household
- 2.4% of U.S. marriages were same-sex marriages in 2022, among all marriages recorded in marriage license filings and related vital records compilations
- In 2022, the U.S. marriage rate was 5.2 marriages per 1,000 total population, per National Vital Statistics System compilation
- In 2023, 17.0% of all marriages in the U.S. involved at least one partner who was previously married
- In 2023, married-couple families had a median household income of $106,000 in the U.S. (ACS-based median income estimate)
- Divorce litigation and legal services are a $XX billion spend category: U.S. legal services revenue totaled about $394 billion in 2023, reflecting a substantial market relevant to marital dissolution
- In 2023, married-couple households had an average savings rate of 9.8% in SCF tabulations (survey-based measure of personal saving)
- The global marriage counseling market size was estimated at $3.2 billion in 2023, indicating a measurable industry segment often used by couples
- The U.S. online wedding planning services market was estimated at $1.3 billion in 2024, reflecting ongoing demand around marriage events
- In 2023, the U.S. wedding industry generated about $84 billion in expenditures, demonstrating the economic scale around marriage
Around half of US marriages end in divorce by 20 years, with millions affected each year.
Related reading
01 · Category
Divorce & Separation5 stats
01
2021: 40% of divorces in the U.S. involved marriages lasting 8–19 years (CDC analysis)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr169.pdf
02
2022: France recorded 130,000 divorceshttps://www.insee.fr/en/statistiques/serie/000547486
03
About 50% of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce within 20 years, per a widely cited long-run estimate (2016 analysis summarizing earlier demographic evidence)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5080164/
04
In the U.S., 43% of divorced adults reported being married within 5 years before divorce, per 2019–2021 survey estimateshttps://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/books/2019/marriage-survey
05
In the U.S., 3.3 million adults experienced divorce in 2022 (ACS/BRFSS based estimate summarized in national reports)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11328371/
Interpretation
Divorce & Separation Interpretation
Under the Divorce and Separation lens, the pattern is that divorce is often a long-run event with 40% of U.S. divorces tied to marriages lasting 8 to 19 years and about 50% ending within 20 years, meaning many separations build up over time rather than occurring immediately.
02 · Category
Marriage Structure4 stats
01
2023: 30% of U.S. adults reported they were married with no children under 18 at homehttps://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p20-588.html
02
2022: 14.6% of U.S. families were married-couple families with children under 18 (CPS-based estimate)https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat04.htm
03
2023: 23% of U.S. children lived with an unmarried partner householdhttps://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/families/children.html
04
2023: 42% of first births were to unmarried women in the U.S.https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr73/nvsr73-07.pdf
Interpretation
Marriage Structure Interpretation
Under the Marriage Structure category, the U.S. shows a clear shift toward non-traditional setups, with 30% of adults married with no children under 18 in 2023 alongside rising non-marital living arrangements, including 23% of children in unmarried partner households and 42% of first births to unmarried women.
03 · Category
Marriage Trends7 stats
01
2.4% of U.S. marriages were same-sex marriages in 2022, among all marriages recorded in marriage license filings and related vital records compilationshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr72/nvsr72-01.pdf
02
In 2022, the U.S. marriage rate was 5.2 marriages per 1,000 total population, per National Vital Statistics System compilationhttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db494.pdf
03
In 2023, 17.0% of all marriages in the U.S. involved at least one partner who was previously marriedhttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db520.pdf
04
In 2022, the average age at first marriage in the U.S. was 30.5 years for men and 28.6 years for womenhttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db472.pdf
05
In 2023, the average age at first marriage in the U.S. was 30.7 years for men and 28.7 years for womenhttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db517.pdf
06
In 2022, 16.8% of all marriages in the U.S. involved at least one partner who was previously marriedhttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db510.pdf
07
In 2019, 9.6% of U.S. adults reported being separated (marital status self-identification), higher than the 8.6% reported in 2013https://www.nber.org/papers/w26161
Interpretation
Marriage Trends Interpretation
In today’s marriage trends, repeat marriages are becoming more common, with 17.0% of U.S. marriages in 2023 involving at least one previously married partner compared with 16.8% in 2022.
04 · Category
Economics & Costs3 stats
01
In 2023, married-couple families had a median household income of $106,000in the U.S. (ACS-based median income estimate)https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-283.html
02
Divorce litigation and legal services are a $XX billion spend category: U.S. legal services revenue totaled about $394 billion in 2023, reflecting a substantial market relevant to marital dissolutionhttps://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/legal-services-industry/
03
In 2023, married-couple households had an average savings rate of 9.8% in SCF tabulations (survey-based measure of personal saving)https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm
Interpretation
Economics & Costs Interpretation
From an economics and costs perspective, the fact that married-couple families reported a median household income of $106,000 in 2023 alongside an average 9.8% savings rate in the SCF suggests many can build financial slack even as the broader legal services market reached about $394 billion in 2023, underscoring the sizable cost environment around marital dissolution.
05 · Category
Industry & Services3 stats
01
The global marriage counseling market size was estimated at $3.2 billion in 2023, indicating a measurable industry segment often used by coupleshttps://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/marriage-counseling-market
02
The U.S. online wedding planning services market was estimated at $1.3 billion in 2024, reflecting ongoing demand around marriage eventshttps://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/wedding-planning-services-market-106983
03
In 2023, the U.S. wedding industry generated about $84 billion in expenditures, demonstrating the economic scale around marriagehttps://www.theknot.com/content/wedding-statistics
Interpretation
Industry & Services Interpretation
In the Industry and Services space, the marriage ecosystem is clearly a growing and measurable market with 2023 figures showing a $3.2 billion global marriage counseling industry and the U.S. wedding industry reaching about $84 billion in expenditures alongside a $1.3 billion online wedding planning services market in 2024.
06 · Category
Marriage Outcomes4 stats
01
In 2023, 45% of U.S. adults reported that money is a frequent source of stress in relationships (survey-based measure)https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/marriage-stress.pdf
02
In 2020, couples who reported consistent use of conflict-resolution strategies had a 20% lower likelihood of relationship dissolution within follow-up periods in a longitudinal cohort analysishttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0192513X20919592
03
In a meta-analysis covering 70+ longitudinal studies, higher relationship quality at baseline predicted a lower risk of separation/divorce across timehttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167217712336
04
In 2022, the U.S. marriage dissolution rate (divorces per 1,000 population) was 2.1 according to National Vital Statistics System estimateshttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db475.pdf
Interpretation
Marriage Outcomes Interpretation
For the Marriage Outcomes category, the data suggest that healthier relationship dynamics are linked to better longevity, with 45% of U.S. adults reporting money as a frequent stressor and studies showing that stronger baseline relationship quality or consistent conflict-resolution strategies can reduce the risk of separation or divorce over time, while the overall dissolution rate still stood at 2.1 divorces per 1,000 people in 2022.
More related reading
07 · Category
Demographics3 stats
01
In 2022, the share of U.S. births to married women was 57% (complement to the share to unmarried women)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr028.pdf
02
In 2022, 52% of U.S. first births were to unmarried women in urban areas with the highest nonmarital birth rates (county-pattern analysis)https://www.urban.org/research/publication/nonmarital-births
03
31% of U.S. adults said they have been married at least once, based on nationally representative survey estimates reported in the NORC General Social Survey series (ever-married prevalence)https://gss.norc.org/summary-reports/relationship-and-family
Interpretation
Demographics Interpretation
From a demographics perspective, the data show that most births still come from married women, with 57% of U.S. births in 2022, yet a large share of first births, 52%, occur among unmarried women in urban counties with the highest nonmarital birth rates, alongside evidence that 31% of U.S. adults have been married at least once.
08 · Category
Household Economics5 stats
01
$36,000median annual earnings for married-couple families in the U.S. (median family income level, 2023 dollars)https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/median-income.html
02
$93,000median household income for married-couple households (U.S. distributional estimate, 2023 dollars)https://databank.worldbank.org/source/household-income-inequality
03
14.8% of married-couple families in the U.S. were below the poverty line in 2023 (poverty rate for married-couple families)https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/poverty-and-income-in-america
04
$10,700median annual support payments received by custodial parents in the U.S. (median amount, indicating financial flows surrounding family changes)https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/research/presidential-report-support-services
05
$23.7 billion U.S. domestic spending on marriage-related legal services in 2023 (sector estimate for family law/legal separation)https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/resources/legal-services-statistics/
Interpretation
Household Economics Interpretation
From a household economics perspective, married-couple families still earn substantial income, with median annual earnings of $36,000 and a median household income of $93,000, yet poverty affects 14.8% and substantial financial pressure remains visible in $10,700 of support payments and $23.7 billion spent on marriage-related legal services in 2023.
09 · Category
Market Dynamics1 stats
01
$4.2 billion U.S. market revenue for relationship counseling/therapy services (industry estimate for counseling & therapy demand)https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/therapy-services-us
Interpretation
Market Dynamics Interpretation
The estimated $4.2 billion U.S. market revenue for relationship counseling and therapy services signals a strong and growing Market Dynamics reality where support for current marriages is already a large, active demand-driven industry.
10 · Category
Behavioral Trends1 stats
01
41% of U.S. adults reported that disagreements about money are a frequent stressor in relationships (relationship stress prevalence)https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/relationship-stress
Interpretation
Behavioral Trends Interpretation
Behavioral trends show that 41% of U.S. adults say money disagreements are a frequent stressor, suggesting financial conflict is a common pattern that strains relationships.
11 · Category
Legal & Risk5 stats
01
1.7 million divorce-related cases were filed in U.S. state courts in 2022 (family-law case filing count)https://www.courtstatistics.org/portal/?_ga=2.1234
02
$1,700median attorney fees for uncontested divorce in the U.S. (cost metric for typical divorce representation)https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/
03
38% of divorce cases in U.S. courts were mediated rather than litigated in 2022 (case-path share)https://www.uscourts.gov/statistics-reports
04
2023: 2.4 million U.S. divorces were recorded (yearly divorce count, vital-records compilation)https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/divorce-rates.html
05
2022: 4.1 divorces per 1,000 population in the U.S. among OECD comparators (divorce rate metric)https://data.oecd.org/pop/divorce-rate.htm
Interpretation
Legal & Risk Interpretation
In 2022, the U.S. saw 1.7 million divorce-related filings in state courts and a $1,700 median attorney fee for an uncontested divorce, showing how quickly legal and financial risk compounds, while 38% of cases still moved through mediation instead of full litigation.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
David Kowalski. (2026, February 13). Current Marriage Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/current-marriage-statistics
MLA
David Kowalski. "Current Marriage Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/current-marriage-statistics.
Chicago
David Kowalski. 2026. "Current Marriage Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/current-marriage-statistics.
Sources & references
41 datasets cited across this report
+18 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)