Single Life

92 million
Number of unmarried Americans 18 and older in 2006. This group comprised 42 percent of all U.S. residents 18 and older.

54%
Percentage of unmarried Americans 18 and older who are women.

60%
Percentage of unmarried Americans 18 and older who have never been married. Another 25 percent are divorced, and 15 percent are widowed.

86
Number of unmarried men 18 and older for every 100 unmarried women in the United States.

50.7 million
Number of households maintained by unmarried men or women. These households comprise 44 percent of households nationwide.

30.5 million
Number of people who live alone. They comprise 27 percent of all households, up from 17 percent in 1970.

Parenting

12.9 million
Number of single parents living with their children in 2006. Of these, 10.4 million were single mothers.

9%
Percentage of households headed by single parents in 2006, up from 5 percent in 1970. 

39%
Percentage of opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households that include children.

Unmarried Couples

6 million
Number of unmarried-partner households in 2006. These include 5.2 million of the opposite sex and 780,000 of the same sex.

Voters

36%
Percentage of voters in the 2004 presidential election who were unmarried.
Education

83%
Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2007 who were high school graduates.

24%
Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree or more education.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau