Fewer than half of U.S. households in 2025 were made up of married couples, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s America’s Families and Living Arrangements tables. The data show a notable change compared to 1975, when nearly two-thirds of households were married couples.
The share of married-couple households with their own children has also decreased over the past 50 years. In 1975, more than half (54%) of these households included their own children under age 18, but by 2025 that figure had dropped to about 37%.
One-person households have become more common as well. In 2025, there were 39.7 million such households, representing 29% of all households—an increase from 20% in 1975.
Other findings include a rise in the proportion of householders aged 65 and older, which grew from one in five in 1975 to over one in four in 2025. The percentage of families with their own children under age 18 living at home declined from 54% to 39% over the same period.
The estimated median age at first marriage increased to 30.8 for men and 28.4 for women in 2025, compared to ages 23.5 and 21.1 respectively in 1975.
Living arrangements among young adults have shifted as well: “In 2025, more than half (58%) of adults ages 18 to 24 lived in their parental home, compared to 16% of adults ages 25 to 34.”
These statistics are based on data collected by the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) for both years studied. CPS ASEC has been collecting information on family structures for over six decades.
For additional details on families and living arrangements, further resources are available at census.gov’s Families and Living Arrangements section.
Technical documentation covering definitions, confidentiality protection, methodology, and error types can be found at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar25.pdf.
All comparative statements provided have been statistically tested; unless otherwise noted, they are significant at the ten percent level.
