CDC recorded a provisional 2,041,926 U.S. marriages in 2023, a crude rate of 6.1 marriage events per 1,000 residents. In a separate Census measure, the estimated 2025 median age at first marriage was 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women.
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Three measures, three questions
The national marriage count, marriage rate, and median age at first marriage are often placed in one list. They answer different questions. CDC's provisional 2023 count records 2,041,926 marriage events. CDC divides the event count by the U.S. resident population to produce a crude rate of 6.1 marriages per 1,000 residents. Census estimates a 2025 median first-marriage age from marital-status information: 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women. The source, unit, and year change when the article moves from events to age.
A marriage event involves two people. The 2,041,926 figure is not a count of distinct people who married for the first time. It includes remarriages, and it cannot tell us how many people began a first marriage. The crude rate is also an event measure, not a share of adults who married. Its denominator is the total population, including children and people who are already married. Reading 6.1 per 1,000 as an unmarried adult's annual chance of marriage would use the wrong population and unit.
The Census median addresses timing of first marriage. It is not the average age of people who held weddings in 2025. A person can remarry at an older age without changing the question of when they first married. Nor can a median age tell how many weddings took place that year. These measures belong together in an overview because they show volume, a population-scaled event rate, and timing, but they should not be blended into one probability.
How to read the 2023 count and rate
The CDC table gives both the event count and the population used in the rate calculation. For 2023 it lists 2,041,926 marriages and a resident population of 334,914,895. Dividing the marriages by that population and multiplying by 1,000 gives about 6.1 after rounding. The table calls the marriage count and rate provisional. That status means the published value may be revised, so keep the year and provisional label when you quote it.
It is tempting to turn the number into "0.61% of people married." The arithmetic conversion from 6.1 per 1,000 to 0.61% is possible, but the sentence would be misleading: the numerator counts marriages, not unique residents, and each event has two spouses. The clean statement is "6.1 marriage events per 1,000 residents." It describes the volume of recorded marriages relative to the whole resident population. It does not describe the proportion of residents who entered a marriage.
If you need the number of first marriages, look for a source that separates first marriages from remarriages. If you need a personal probability, the population would have to be restricted to eligible people at risk of a first or later marriage, with appropriate follow-up. The CDC's crude rate does neither. It remains valuable for comparing the annual recorded volume on a common population scale, provided the unit stays visible.
What the historical rate shows
The CDC series lists 8.2 marriages per 1,000 residents in 2000, 6.1 in 2019, 5.1 in 2020, 6.0 in 2021, 6.2 in 2022, and 6.1 in provisional 2023 data. The 2023 rate is 2.1 marriages per 1,000 residents below the 2000 rate by subtraction of the published rounded figures. That is a long-run comparison of crude rates. It does not establish the reason for the change or whether the same share of each age group married.
The 2020 point is visibly low in this sequence. The rate then rose in 2021 and 2022, before moving down by 0.1 marriage per 1,000 residents in 2023. The 0.1 change is in the per-1,000 unit; it is not a 0.1 percentage-point change in the population. The rounded 2019 and 2023 rates are both 6.1, although their event counts and populations need not be identical. A shared rounded rate means the event count relative to population was similar at one decimal place.
The series describes what was recorded, not a tested explanation. Ceremony scheduling, reporting, population size, and the age composition of residents can affect crude rates. The table does not apportion those effects. A reader can accurately say that 2023 remained below 2000 on this measure and close to the 2019 rounded rate. A claim that a particular social change caused the difference needs a study designed to test that claim.
What changed in first-marriage timing
The Census Bureau estimates that the median age at first marriage reached 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women in 2025. Its comparison points for 1975 were 23.5 and 21.1. Each sex-specific median rose by 7.3 years, by arithmetic on the published figures. These are estimated medians from marital-status patterns, not averages obtained by taking the ages on all marriage certificates issued in those years.
A median is a middle point in a distribution, not an instruction or a deadline. Some people marry for the first time earlier, others later, and some do not marry. The reported sex categories follow the source's presentation. The figures cannot tell when a specific couple should marry or whether people who marry later have stronger or weaker relationships. They also do not reveal whether a later median came from one single cause.
The year mismatch is deliberate. CDC's event table cited here ends with 2023 provisional data; the Census first-marriage estimate cited here is for 2025. Do not put the 2025 median next to the 2023 event count and call them one 2025 snapshot. When comparing a newer marriage-rate story with an older age figure, label each separately. The two systems may update on different schedules, and their units do not become interchangeable when displayed on the same page.
Why a divorce rate cannot finish the calculation
CDC also publishes divorce counts and crude divorce rates, but subtracting a year's divorce rate from that year's marriage rate does not give a marriage survival rate. The marriages and divorces in one year generally concern different couples and different marriage dates. A divorce in 2023 may end a marriage begun many years earlier. A marriage begun in 2023 has not had the same follow-up time. Survival requires observing a defined group of marriages over time.
There is a second comparability problem in the CDC tables. The provisional 2023 divorce count in the cited national PDF is based on 45 reporting states and the District of Columbia, with its rate calculated for that reporting population. The marriage figure is a national count and crude national rate. Subtracting those published rates would mix coverage as well as different events. This is why a number such as "half of marriages end in divorce" cannot be calculated from the two annual rows.
For the same reason, a crude national marriage rate cannot tell how many marriages involved same-sex spouses. The national event count in this CDC table does not separate marriages by the spouses' sex. A survey of current couple households can answer a different question about household composition, but it is not a replacement for an annual event breakdown. Keep the source matched to the question you want to answer.
When state figures are useful
The national rate gives a broad reference point, while the CDC state table shows where marriage ceremonies were recorded. A state rate divides ceremonies in that state by people residing in the state. The numerator and denominator do not necessarily describe the same people: a couple may travel across state lines to marry. That makes a destination state's rate an imperfect measure of how often its own residents marry.
State populations can also differ in age and marital-status mix. The crude state rates do not adjust for either. A higher state figure therefore is not direct evidence of a larger local dating pool, greater willingness to marry, or better odds for one person. Use the state marriage-rate table to find a recorded 2023 rate, then check its location and population notes before drawing an interpretation.
For the separate question of family arrangements with children, single-mother and single-father family-group statistics count households rather than annual marriage events. The two topics connect, but one number cannot be used to calculate the other. A family can be formed, change, or continue without a wedding in the year being measured. This overview is most useful when each statistic stays attached to its own unit and year.
The data
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| Measure | Value | Year and source |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded marriages | 2,041,926 | 2023 provisional CDC |
| Overall (crude) marriage rate | 6.1 per 1,000 | 2023 provisional CDC |
| Overall (crude) marriage rate | 6.2 per 1,000 | 2022 CDC |
| Overall (crude) marriage rate | 5.1 per 1,000 | 2020 CDC |
| Overall (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 |
“Denominator” means the full group used to calculate a percentage or rate.
How to read it: Counts, overall (crude) rates, and median first-marriage ages answer different questions and should not be combined into one probability.
Download the table (CSV) ↓