By the numbers
The share of Wisconsin adults who are currently married has fallen in recent years to its lowest level since the 1880 census. The fall has been most pronounced among younger age brackets.
The percentage of the Wisconsin population that is currently married has tracked the nationwide rate over the years. Both peaked in 1960, when 73 percent of Wisconsin’s adults reported they were currently married. The figure fell to 52 percent in 2023 and 2024.
By 2024, the most recent year for which data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey are available, only 6 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds are married, while about 31 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds are. Among 30- to 34-year-olds, the marriage rate is slightly above its all-time low at 49 percent.
The one age group to buck the trend is those 65 and older. About half were currently married in censuses from 1910 to 1950. The figure today sits around 58 percent. The Census Bureau’s decennial census and American Community Survey microdata are provided by the University of Minnesota IPUMS. Data for the 1890 decennial census and the 2020 1-year ACS survey are not available.
Wyatt Eichholz is a policy and legislative associate at the Badger Institute.
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