What is the average length of marriage in the US?
In this article, you’ll learn about:
Let’s dig in.
The average length of marriage is 8.2 years.
The success rate of marriage is 55.4%.
Since the divorce rate is 44.6%, this means 55.4% of marriages succeed.
The average relationship length before marriage is 4.9 years.
The average length of cohabitation before marriage is 3.5 years.
The average length of second marriages is 9.2 years for men.
And 8.1 years for married women according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This is because marriages that happen later in life last longer.
Usually, the first marriage ends early when we are younger.
But the second marriage lasts longer since we get married at an older age.
Note that second and third marriages are lumped into “higher order marriages.”
52% of marriages last 20 years for women.
And 56% of marriages last 20 years for men.
26.2% of marriages last 30 years.
Marriages that last 30+ years are affected by death and divorce.
Only 20.2% of married people are divorced after being married 30 years.
And the divorce rate for marriages that last 30 years 9%.
Divorces for this demographic are called gray divorces.
Let’s look at some divorce statistics for the top reasons for divorce.
These are the most common reasons for cause of divorce:
Lack of commitment (infidelity) is the #1 reason marriages end.
Money issues is thought to be the leading risk of divorce.
But cheating is the #1 reason for marriages failing.
The divorce rate of third marriages is 25.8%.
The Census Bureau found that 3.1% of married people have a third marriage.
Of that 3.1%, 74.19% of third marriages last.
This means that 25.8% of third marriages end in divorce.
If you look at the rankings of these, first marriages have the highest number of divorces.
The average age of marriage in the US is now at 29.4 years old.
For men, it’s 30.3 years old.
And, for women, it’s 28.4 years old.
20 years ago, the average age of marriage was 26 years old.
The average age of marriage is increasing by roughly 1 year every 5.5 years.
| Race | Average Length of Marriage (Years) |
|---|---|
| Whites | 8.2 |
| Hispanics | 7.8 |
| Blacks | 8.9 |
| Asians | 8.3 |
Let’s look at the marriage statistics by race.
The following chart and graph show the marriage rate by race.
The marriage rate by race is the number of people married per 1,000 people.
18% of marriages are interracial marriages.
Nearly one-in-five newlyweds are interracially married.
Here is the percentage of interracial marriages per race and gender.
| Race | Average Length of Marriage (Years) |
|---|---|
| Whites | 8.2 |
| Hispanics | 7.8 |
| Blacks | 8.9 |
| Asians | 8.3 |
Let’s look at some of the most common questions surrounding average marriage lengths.
The average marriage lasts 8.2 years.
The duration of marriage depends on the age that someone gets married.
Because maturity plays a part in the success and prevention of marriages and divorces.
The younger age groups get divorced at a rate that’s higher than the national average.
The older age groups have a divorce rate that’s lower than the national average.
The average age to get married is about 30 years old.
The average number of marriages per person is 1.1 times.
53% of the population (176.2M) are married people in the US.
The divorce rate in the US is 44.6% (78.6M people).
23% (18.1M) of people get remarried.
That means 10.3% of people get married twice.
So, we add that 10.3% (18.1M) to the 176.2M (100%) of married people.
This means that the average person gets married 110.3% (1.1) times.
33% of first-time marriages last 40 years.
Over a 40-year period, 67% of first marriages end in divorce.
The average length of marriage before divorce is 8.2 years.
There are 61.45M married couples in the US.
890,000 marriages ended during the pandemic.
Being cooped up led to higher divorce rates.
8.2% of marriages end in divorce.
The number of divorces are 82 divorces for every 1,000 marriages.
The first 5 years of marriage are the hardest.
The divorce rates in the first 5 years of marriage are the highest.
The divorce rate in the first 5 years is 19 people per 1,000.
The first year of marriage is the hardest.
The mental struggles of “this is the rest of my life” hits you in the first year.
You have things you are legally responsible for, like:
Yes, marriage rates are declining.
In 1960, 68% of 20-somethings were married.
Today, only 26% of 20-somethings are married.
Over a 60-year period, that’s a 61.8% decline in marriage rates.
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