The Buckeye Singles Council started “National Singles Week” in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely observed during the third full week of September (Sept. 17-23 in 2017) as “Unmarried and Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that many unmarried Americans do not identify with the word “single” because they are parents, have partners or are widowed. In this edition of Facts for Features, unmarried people include those who were never married, widowed or divorced, unless otherwise noted.

Single Life

110.6 million

The number of unmarried people in America age 18 and older in 2016. This group made up 45.2 percent of all U.S. residents age 18 and older.

Source:

America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table A1

Visualization

Homeownership Rates of Single Householders

August 14, 2017

Single-female householder and single-male householder.

53.2%

The percentage of unmarried U.S. residents age 18 and older who were women in 2016; 46.8 percent were men.

Source:

<span style="color: red;">America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table A1</span>

63.5%

The percentage of unmarried U.S. residents age 18 and older in 2016 who had never been married. Another 23.1 percent were divorced and 13.4 percent were widowed.

Source:

America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table A1

19.5 million

The number of unmarried U.S. residents age 65 and older in 2016. These seniors made up 17.7 percent of all unmarried people age 18 and older.

Source:

America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table A1

88

The number of unmarried men age 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States in 2016.

Source:

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table A1

59.8 million

The number of households maintained by unmarried men and women in 2016. These households comprised 47.6 percent of households nationwide.

Source:

America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table H1

35.4 million

The number of people who lived alone in 2016. They comprised 28.1 percent of all households, up from 17.1 percent in 1970.

Source:

America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 1960 to Present, Table HH-4

Parenting

35.7%

The percentage of women ages 15 to 50 with a birth in the last 12 months, as of 2015, who were widowed, divorced or never married.

Source:

2015 American Community Survey, Table B13002

37.5%

The percentage of opposite-sex, unmarried-partner couples in 2016 that lived with at least one biological child of either partner.

Source:

America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2016, Table UC3

790,103

The number of unmarried grandparents who were responsible for most of the basic care of a co-resident grandchild in 2015; 30.7 percent of co-resident grandparents responsible for their grandchildren were unmarried.

Source:

2015 American Community Survey, Table B10057

Unmarried Couples

7.3 million

The number of unmarried-partner households in 2015. Of this number, 433,539 were same-sex households.

Source:

2015 American Community Survey Table, B11009

Voters

39.6%

The percentage of voters in the 2016 presidential election who were unmarried.

Source:

Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2016, Table 9

Education

87.5%

The percentage of unmarried people age 25 and older in 2016 who had completed high school or more education.

Source:

Educational Attainment in the United States: 2016, Table 2

27.6%

The percentage of unmarried people age 25 and older in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree or more education.

Source:

Educational Attainment in the United States: 2016, Table 2

The following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau’s Facts for Features series:

Black (African American) History Month (February)
Super Bowl
Valentine's Day (Feb. 14)
Women's History Month (March)
Irish-American Heritage Month (March)/
St. Patrick's Day (March 17)
Earth Day (April 22)
Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (May)
Older Americans Month (May)
Mother's Day
Hurricane Season Begins (June 1)
Father's Day

The Fourth of July (July 4)
Anniversary of Americans With Disabilities Act (July 26)
Back to School (August)
Labor Day
Grandparents Day
Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)
Unmarried and Single Americans Week
Halloween (Oct. 31)
American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month (November)
Veterans Day (Nov. 11)
Thanksgiving Day
The Holiday Season (December)

Editor’s note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Facts for Features are customarily released about two months before an observance in order to accommodate magazine production timelines. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; or e-mail: pio@census.gov.

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021

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