In 1960, more than 44% of all American households included married parents with children, while just over 13% were single individuals without children. Today, this has reversed—by 2023, single individuals living alone and married couples without children have surpassed households of married parents. Single-person households have increased more than fivefold, from 6.9 million in 1960 to 38.1 million in 2022.
Other types of households have also become more common. In 2020, the Census Bureau estimated that approximately 9 million American households were maintained by an unmarried cohabiting couple, two-thirds of which had no children.
From 2022 to 2023, the share of single-parent households fell from 8.1% to 7.4%, its smallest slice since 1977, nearly half a century ago.
The proportion of American households formed by married individuals without children at home has remained relatively constant between 28% and 31% since 1960.
The number of married households has increased along with the country’s population. There were 38.7 million married households without children in 2023, a 143% increase from 1960; the country’s population grew by 88% during the same period.
Source: USAFacts.org