Median age at first marriage for all 50 states plus D.C. and 30 major metro areas – with 25-year trend data showing how dramatically Americans are delaying marriage compared to the year 2000.
Americans are marrying later than at any point in recorded history. The national median has climbed steadily for decades – but the averages mask enormous variation between states.
The national median age at first marriage in the United States reached 30.2 for men and 28.6 for women in the most recent Census Bureau estimates. In 2000, those figures were just 26.8 and 25.1 respectively – a shift of more than three years in a single generation.
But the national number hides a striking geographic divide. In Washington D.C., the median woman doesn't marry until 31.7. In Utah, she marries at 25.2 – a 6.5-year gap within the same country. The Northeast and West Coast consistently marry latest; the South and Mountain West marry earliest.
In 2000, the median American man married at 26.8 and the median woman at 25.1. A quarter-century later, both have climbed by more than three years.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey & American Community Survey, Table MS-2 (2025); NCFMR/BGSU analysis of ACS Table B12007 (2023).
Click any column header to sort. All figures represent median age at first marriage from the most recent available data.
| # | State | Region | Men | Women | Combined | Gap | Men '00 | Women '00 | Δ Women |
|---|
| # | Metro Area | Region | Men | Women | Combined |
|---|
Sources: NCFMR/BGSU analysis of Census ACS Table B12007 (2023); Census Bureau CPS historical tables; metro estimates from ACS 5-year PUMS and The Knot regional data.
A complete, plain-language explanation of every data source, calculation, and limitation in this report.
This report presents median age at first marriage for all 50 US states plus the District of Columbia, and for 30 major metropolitan areas. The "median" is the midpoint – half of first-time brides or grooms in that location married younger than this age, and half married older.
The US States and Metro Area datasets are derived from distinct but complementary Census Bureau products. Both are official government statistics; they use different samples and methodologies, which is why state-level and metro-level figures should not be directly compared to each other without noting the source difference.
US States (51 entries including DC): Data comes from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling Green State University, which analyzes the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), specifically Table B12007 ("Median Age at First Marriage"). The NCFMR's most recent state-level profile (FP-25-09) uses 2023 ACS 1-year estimates. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households per year.
Metro Areas (30 entries): Metro-level marriage age estimates are not published directly by the Census Bureau at this granularity. These figures are compiled from ACS 5-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) extracts covering the relevant Combined Statistical Areas, cross-referenced with regional survey data from The Knot's annual Real Weddings Study and state-proxy calculations where metro boundaries align with a single dominant state.
Year 2000 Comparison: Historical state-level data (men and women, circa 2000) is drawn from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) Table MS-2 historical series and supplemented with NCFMR archival profiles using ACS 2000 estimates. National-level medians for 2000 (Men: 26.8, Women: 25.1) are from the Census Bureau's official CPS Table MS-2.
Combined Average: The combined figure for each state or city is calculated as the simple average of the male and female medians:
Gender Gap: The gap column shows the difference between male and female medians:
A positive gap means men marry later than women (this is the case in all 50 states). The national average gap is approximately 1.6 years.
25-Year Change (Δ): The change column shows the difference between the ~2025 estimate and the ~2000 estimate for women's median age:
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| # | Rank | Row position based on current sort order (default: combined average, descending) |
| State | Text | US state name or District of Columbia |
| Region | Category | Census region: Northeast (NE), South, Midwest, or West |
| Men | Numeric | Median age at first marriage for men in that state (2023 ACS via NCFMR) |
| Women | Numeric | Median age at first marriage for women in that state (2023 ACS via NCFMR) |
| Combined | Calculated | (Men + Women) / 2 – simple average of both medians |
| Gap | Calculated | Men − Women – gender difference in median marriage age |
| Men '00 | Numeric | Men's median age at first marriage circa 2000 (CPS / ACS historical) |
| Women '00 | Numeric | Women's median age at first marriage circa 2000 (CPS / ACS historical) |
| Δ Women | Calculated | Women_2025 − Women_2000 – change in women's median over 25 years |
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| # | Rank | Row position based on current sort order |
| Metro Area | Text | Metropolitan statistical area name with state abbreviation |
| Region | Category | Census region: Northeast (NE), South, Midwest, or West |
| Men | Numeric | Estimated median age at first marriage for men (ACS PUMS / regional survey) |
| Women | Numeric | Estimated median age at first marriage for women |
| Combined | Calculated | (Men + Women) / 2 |
| Source | Data Used | URL |
|---|---|---|
| NCFMR / Bowling Green State University | State-level median age at first marriage, ACS Table B12007 analysis (FP-25-09) | bgsu.edu |
| US Census Bureau (ACS) | American Community Survey 1-year and 5-year estimates, Table B12007 | data.census.gov |
| US Census Bureau (CPS) Table MS-2 | Historical national and state median age at first marriage, 1890–2024 | census.gov (PDF) |
| The Knot (Real Weddings Study) | Metro-area survey data on marriage timing, annual survey of ~10,000 couples | theknot.com |
| World Population Review | Cross-reference for US and international comparison data | worldpopulationreview.com |
