Unmarried Americans By the Numbers: The Changing American Family

September 24, 2015

This is National Unmarried and Single Americans Week and all week we will be highlighting new U.S. Census Bureau data documenting the size and power of this fast-growing demographic group—focusing particularly on unmarried women. The number of people living alone has close to doubled in less than two generations.

34 million

Number of U.S. residents 18+ who lived alone in 2014. They comprised 28% of all households, up from 17% in 1970.

7 million

Number of U.S. unmarried-partner households in 2013. Of this number, 573,530 were same-sex households.

3 million

Number of U.S. unmarried opposite-sex couples living with children under 18 as of 2014, up from 1 million in 1996.

Data Sources:
1. U.S. Census Bureau: America’s Families and Living Arrangements 2014, Table A2
2. U.S. Census Bureau: 2013 American Community Survey, Table B11009
3. US Census Bureau: Unmarried Couples of the Opposite Sex

See our previous Unmarried and Single Americans Week posts:
Monday: Some Stunning Stats
Wednesday: Singlehood is Becoming the New Norm for American Households

What We're Reading

U.S. Census: Unmarried and Single Americans Week

To commemorate Unmarried and Single Americans Week (September 17-23), the U.S. Census has produced a “Facts for Features” profile (PDF) of 2016 census data about unmarried Americans. Here are some of the highlights:

There are 110.6 unmarried people 18 or older in America, making up 45.2% of the U.S. adult population.
35.4 million Americans lived alone in 2016, representing 28.1% of all US households — up from 17.1% in 1970.
Despite unmarried people being 45.2% of the U.S. adult population, only 39.6% of voters in the 2016 presidential election were unmarried.

Read the rest of the U.S. Census Bureau’s “Facts for Features” profile (PDF) on unmarried Americans.

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Unmarried Americans By the Numbers: The Changing American Family

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