According to federal statistics, the marriage rate in the United States returned to prepandemic levels in 2022. While this may be true for the country, we wanted to look at the figures for Wisconsin and neighboring states.
Most Midwest states are in fact back to prepandemic levels. Those marriage rates, however, have been falling over the past two decades. Wisconsin sits middle of the pack; we had the same marriage rate as Ohio and Michigan in 2022 at 5.3 marriages per 1,000 residents.
The Badger Institute has published several reports and news articles about family structure in Wisconsin and how it has changed over time:
A report in 2013 by Christian Schnieder analyzed the state of marriage in Wisconsin (under our previous name, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute).
A piece by Marie Rohde in 2018 discussed why both older and younger people are deciding to stay single.
A contrasting article by Marilyn Krause discussing why some couples still cherish the institution of marriage.
A piece by Michael Jahr accompanied both those, showing how the idea of marriage is now becoming a foreign concept to some.
We published a policy brief in 2019 on the marriage penalty in Wisconsin’s earned income tax credit.
Jahr offered testimony to the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means in 2022 discussing the benefits of removing the marriage penalty in Wisconsin as the Assembly debated a bill, AB 692, to do so.
A chapter from Visiting Fellow Angela Rachidi, published in our 2022 Mandate for Madison policy book, analyzed the many poverty safety net programs in Wisconsin and included a discussion of the marriage disincentives in those benefits’ structure.
The underlying numbers
| Marriage Rate (new marriages per 1,000 residents) | |||||||
| Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Michigan | Minnesota | Ohio | Wisconsin | |
| 2022 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| 2021 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.0 |
| 2020 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| 2019 | 5.2 | 6.2 | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.0 |
| 2018 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.4 |
| 2017 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.6 |
| 2016 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 6.0 | 5.6 |
| 2015 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.6 |
| 2014 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.7 |
| 2013 | 5.4 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 5.2 |
| 2012 | 5.8 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 5.4 |
| 2011 | 5.6 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 5.3 |
| 2010 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 6.9 | 5.5 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 5.3 |
| 2009 | 5.7 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 5.3 |
| 2008 | 5.9 | 8.0 | 6.5 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 5.6 |
| 2007 | 6.1 | 7.0 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 5.7 |
| 2006 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 6.7 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.0 |
| 2005 | 5.9 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.1 |
| 2004 | 6.2 | 7.8 | 6.9 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 6.2 |
| 2003 | 6.5 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.2 |
| 2002 | 6.6 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 6.3 |
| 2001 | 7.2 | 7.9 | 7.1 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 6.5 |
| 2000 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 6.7 |
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