The denominator is the total population
CDC calls this a crude rate because it divides marriages by everyone in the population, including children, married adults, and others not currently at risk of a first marriage.
It is useful for tracking national volume over time but should not be read as a 0.61% annual chance that any given single adult will marry.
The rate has trended lower since 2000
The series begins at 8.2 per 1,000 in 2000, moves mostly downward, reaches 5.1 in the disrupted 2020 year, and rebounds to 6.2 in 2022 and 6.1 in 2023.
A long-term comparison should not use 2020 alone as the baseline because marriage ceremonies were unusually affected by pandemic restrictions and postponements.
Provisional means the number may change
State vital-record systems supply counts to the National Vital Statistics System. Provisional releases prioritize timeliness and can be revised when reporting is completed or corrected.
The page dates the figure and links the original two-page table so readers can inspect notes and later revisions.