New data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that less than half of American households in 2025 consisted of married couples, a decline from nearly two-thirds in 1975. The information comes from the America’s Families and Living Arrangements tables, which use data collected through the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) for both 2025 and 1975.
The proportion of married-couple households with their own children under age 18 also decreased over the past fifty years. In 1975, more than half of these households included their own children, but by 2025, that figure had dropped to about 37 percent.
Single-person households have become more common as well. In 2025, there were an estimated 39.7 million one-person households, representing 29 percent of all households—up from 20 percent in 1975. The share of householders aged 65 or older increased over this period as well, rising from one in five in 1975 to more than one in four in 2025.
Families with their own children under age 18 made up a smaller percentage of all families compared to fifty years ago: down from 54 percent in 1975 to 39 percent in 2025. Median ages at first marriage have risen; men’s median age reached 30.8 years and women’s was at 28.4 years in 2025, compared to ages of about 23.5 for men and just over 21 for women in the earlier period.
More young adults are living with parents today than decades ago. In the most recent data, over half (58 percent) of adults ages 18 to 24 lived with their parents, while only about one-sixth (16 percent) of those aged between 25 and 34 did so.
The Census Bureau notes that CPS ASEC has been collecting family statistics for more than six decades and that its latest estimates provide detailed insights into household characteristics, living arrangements, couple types, and children.
Definitions and technical documentation on confidentiality protection, methodology, sampling error, and nonsampling error can be found at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar25.pdf. The Source and Accuracy Statement (Attachment H) describes how standard errors for these estimates are calculated.
All comparative statements released have undergone statistical testing at the ten percent significance level unless otherwise noted.
For further details on families and living arrangements statistics, visit Families and Living Arrangements at census.gov.
