US: people married younger in the 1950s than before or since
Typical age at first marriage for women: 22 in 1890, 20.1 in 1956 and 28.4 in 2025. For men: 26.1, 22.5 and 30.8.
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Typical means the median. The lowest point is 1956. This estimate uses marital-status distributions, not the median of all marriage certificates issued that year.
Typical age at first marriage for men and women on one scale. Before the 1940s the points are ten-yearly censuses.
- Men, years years, estimated median
26.1 (1890) → 30.8 (2025)
- Women, years years, estimated median
22 (1890) → 28.4 (2025)
Published values for the selected period without interpolation. The headline describes an observation, not a causal effect.
CPS ASEC estimates, not individual records. Revised r rows replace older variants of the same year. Same-sex couples enter marriage estimates from 2019. The 2024–2025 change includes a Vintage population update; a long-run trend does not erase that break.
A question for this picture
How does later household formation relate to family size?