The CDC’s provisional 2023 state table reports marriage ceremonies per 1,000 residents for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Each ceremony is counted where it occurred, even if the spouses live elsewhere. The rates therefore do not directly measure how often each state’s residents marry.
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What each state row measures
The table gives a 2023 provisional marriage rate for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Its numerator is the number of marriages recorded by state of occurrence: where the marriage took place. Its denominator is the total population residing in that area. CDC expresses the result as marriage events per 1,000 residents. These are two location rules in one ratio. A wedding can enter one state's numerator while the couple belongs to another state's resident population.
For example, a couple who lives in one state and marries in Nevada contributes a ceremony to Nevada's count. They do not become Nevada residents for this calculation. Conversely, their home state's resident population still includes them even though the ceremony did not occur there. This is enough to see why a state rate cannot be read as the share of that state's residents who married. It also explains why a destination for weddings may have a high rate without the published table saying exactly how many ceremonies involved visitors.
The denominator includes children and people who are already married. So even if every ceremony in a state involved residents, the crude rate would still not be an annual probability for an unmarried adult. The table is most direct as a record of where ceremonies happened, scaled by each area's population. Carry that unit forward when comparing rows.
How to read a high or low row
Nevada's provisional 2023 rate was 24.6 marriages per 1,000 residents. Hawaii's was 12.5, Utah's 11.2, Montana's 9.2, and the District of Columbia's 8.6. Louisiana's was 3.7. Those numbers show a wide spread in recorded ceremony rates. They do not rank residents' desire to marry. A high ceremony rate can reflect weddings by residents and visitors, and the published row does not split those groups.
Take Nevada and Louisiana as an example. The difference between 24.6 and 3.7 is 20.9 marriage events per 1,000 residents, based on the rounded rates. That is an arithmetic comparison between state rows, not an estimate of how many more Nevada residents married. We cannot assign the 20.9 gap to destination weddings, age structure, local rules, or any other single cause from these rows. Those explanations require separate data about the couples or populations involved.
A low state rate also does not mean few residents formed committed relationships. Some may marry elsewhere; others may live with a partner without marrying; still others may not want marriage. The CDC row reports neither intent nor relationship quality. It records marriage events occurring inside one border relative to a resident count. Use the table to find that event measure, then switch sources if your real question is about residents' relationship lives.
Compare states with the same unit
Every row in the existing 51-row table uses the per-1,000 unit, so the published numbers can be compared as crude ceremony rates. If one row says 6.2, it means 6.2 recorded marriage events in that area per 1,000 residents in the reference year. It does not mean 6.2% of residents married. The table's explanation and note should stay beside the rows so the location rule is not lost when a reader scans the numbers.
The 2023 state figures are provisional. A later CDC revision may change a rate, so do not treat a one-decimal difference between close states as a permanent ordering. State populations also vary greatly. A higher rate in a smaller state does not imply more weddings in absolute number than a lower rate in a larger state. The rate scales events by population; the count is a separate number. If total ceremony volume matters, use counts rather than reconstructing exact counts from rounded rates.
The CDC source marks California with a footnote because its marriage data include registered nonlicensed marriages. That note belongs with the table. It warns that source details can differ even within a consistent-looking series. A reader comparing a California row with another state should keep the footnote in view instead of treating every administrative record as identical.
Why age and population mix matter
A crude state rate divides by everyone residing in the state. It is not adjusted for age, marital status, or other population characteristics. States can have different shares of children, older adults, unmarried adults, and people in age groups where first marriage is more common. The same number of resident marriages per eligible adult could produce different crude rates if those population mixes differed. The table does not perform the adjustment needed to test that possibility.
The location mismatch and the population-mix issue are separate. Even an age-adjusted calculation based on ceremonies occurring in a state would still include weddings by visitors unless those events were assigned to the spouses' residence. Likewise, assigning ceremonies to residents would not by itself adjust for age. A careful statement about resident marriage behavior needs both a compatible numerator and denominator and a method suited to the question.
If a headline says people in one state are "most likely to marry," ask whether it follows residents over time or merely sorts this crude ceremony table. The latter can identify high-rate places for recorded weddings. It cannot estimate any particular resident's chance of marrying in the next year. The same caution applies to claims that a state is better for dating. Weddings are a later event and do not count available partners.
State rates and the national rate
CDC's national provisional 2023 rate was 6.1 marriage events per 1,000 U.S. residents. It gives a broad reference for the state rows, but a state above 6.1 is not automatically above average in resident marriage propensity. State of ceremony and state of residence can differ for a couple. The national count brings ceremonies across states together, while a particular state row is sensitive to cross-border weddings.
Do not average the 51 published state and District rates to recreate the national rate. Each area has a different population, and an unweighted average would give a small state the same weight as a large state. The national CDC value comes from the national event and population totals. If you need to compare a state with the country, quote each published rate with its source and explain that the state numerator follows ceremony location.
The District of Columbia appears as its own row, so the table has 51 rows for 50 states plus D.C. It is not a 51st state. The table is a 2023 snapshot even though this article may be read later. It cannot answer what the current year's rate will be, and it cannot be used as a forecast for the next year without additional evidence.
Choose the right number for your question
If you want to know where marriage ceremonies were recorded in 2023 relative to local population, use the table directly. Name the state, say "per 1,000 residents," and mention that the figure is provisional. If you want to know how often residents of a state married, look for a source that attributes marriages to the couple's residence. If you want the probability that an unmarried adult will marry, the denominator must be a defined group of unmarried adults, with the relevant observation period.
If you want to compare the age at first marriage across states, use a separate age measure. An age median describes timing, while a crude ceremony rate describes annual event volume; one does not explain the other. The first-marriage-age guide treats that distinct question. The national marriage-rate guide explains the U.S. trend from 2000 through 2023 without a state location comparison.
These distinctions do not make the state table unusable. They make it precise. The table can tell a reader which area recorded more ceremonies relative to its resident population in 2023. That is a real observation. Keeping the occurrence rule, total-population denominator, provisional status, and California footnote in view lets the reader use it without turning a ceremony map into a claim about the people who live there.
The data
The table may be wider than the screen. Focus it and use the arrow keys to reach every column.
| State | Rate per 1,000 residents | Status and unit |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 6.9 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Alaska | 6.4 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Arizona | 5.6 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Arkansas | 7.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| California¹ | 5.5 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Colorado | 7.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Connecticut | 6.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Delaware | 4.7 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| District of Columbia | 8.6 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Florida | 7.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Georgia | 5.9 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Hawaii | 12.5 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Idaho | 7.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Illinois | 5.1 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Indiana | 5.9 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Iowa | 5.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Kansas | 5.3 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Kentucky | 6.1 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Louisiana | 3.7 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Maine | 7.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Maryland | 5.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Massachusetts | 5.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Michigan | 5.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Minnesota | 4.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Mississippi | 5.5 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Missouri | 5.7 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Montana | 9.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Nebraska | 5.3 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Nevada | 24.6 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| New Hampshire | 6.6 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| New Jersey | 5.4 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| New Mexico | 4.7 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| New York | 6.5 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| North Carolina | 6.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| North Dakota | 5.1 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Ohio | 5.1 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Oklahoma | 5.9 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Oregon | 5.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Pennsylvania | 5.3 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Rhode Island | 5.9 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| South Carolina | 6.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| South Dakota | 5.9 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Tennessee | 7.3 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Texas | 5.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Utah | 11.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Vermont | 7.2 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Virginia | 5.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Washington | 5.6 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| West Virginia | 5.8 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Wisconsin | 5.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
| Wyoming | 7.0 | Provisional 2023; marriages per 1,000 residents |
How to read the table A rate of 6.2 means the table recorded 6.2 marriages per 1,000 people living in that state during 2023. It is an event rate, not a percentage of residents or a probability that a single adult marries.
How to read it: Rates are based on provisional counts of marriages by state of occurrence and are per 1,000 total population residing in the area. The CDC source marks California¹ because its marriage data include nonlicensed marriages. Provisional values can be revised; these are not a current 2026 measure of resident marriage propensity.
Download the table (CSV) ↓