Record percentage of 40-year-olds never been married, Census data shows

A record-high percentage of 40-year-olds in the United States have never been married before, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data. 

One-quarter of U.S. 40-year-olds have never married as of 2021, according to an analysis from the Pew Research Center last week. That number is up from 2010 when 20% of U.S. 40-year-olds had never married.

The percentage of never-married 40-year-olds has been increasing since 1980 when just 6% of Americans this age had never been married.

The poll also showed that men were more likely than women to have never married. Black people are also significantly more likely to have never married, as 46% of black 40-year-olds have never married, more than twice that of white and Asian 40-year-olds.

Additionally, people with only a high school education or less are more likely to have never been married by the age of 40. The analysis showed that 33% of 40-year-olds with a high school education level or less have never been married, compared to 26% of those with some college and 18% of those with a bachelor's degree or higher.

Most of those who have never been married are not living with a romantic partner.

Just 22% of never-married adults ages 40 to 44 lived with a partner in 2022. 

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.