Count, rate, and age answer different questions
The marriage count is the number of ceremonies recorded in the vital statistics system. The crude rate divides that count by the total population. Median age at first marriage is a separate Census estimate based on marital-status patterns.
Putting all three in one overview is useful only if their definitions and source years remain visible.
The national marriage rate is below its 2000 level
CDC’s series shows 8.2 marriages per 1,000 people in 2000 and 6.1 in 2023. The rate fell sharply in 2020 and returned to 6.2 in 2022 before edging to 6.1.
A crude rate is influenced by population age structure and is not the probability that an unmarried adult will marry during the year.
First marriage occurs later than it did fifty years ago
Census estimated median first-marriage ages of 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women in 2025. In 1975, the corresponding estimates were 23.5 and 21.1.
The median is the point at which half of the modeled cohort is estimated to have married for the first time. It is not the arithmetic average age of all weddings that year.
Compare the denominators.
| Measure | Value | Year and source |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded marriages | 2,041,926 | 2023 provisional CDC |
| Crude marriage rate | 6.1 per 1,000 | 2023 provisional CDC |
| Crude marriage rate | 6.2 per 1,000 | 2022 CDC |
| Crude marriage rate | 5.1 per 1,000 | 2020 CDC |
| Crude marriage rate | 8.2 per 1,000 | 2000 CDC |
| Median age at first marriage | 30.8 men / 28.4 women | 2025 Census estimate |
| Median age at first marriage | 23.5 men / 21.1 women | 1975 Census estimate |
Reading rule: Counts, crude rates, and median first-marriage ages answer different questions and should not be combined into one probability.
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