CB12-FF.18

July 31, 2012

Unmarried and Single Americans Week

Sept. 16-22, 2012

The Buckeye Singles Council “National Singles Week” started in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate 

single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The week is now widely 

observed during the third full week of September (Sept. 16-22 in 2012) as “Unmarried and 

Single Americans Week,” an acknowledgment that many unmarried Americans do not identify 

with the word “single” because they are parents, have partners or are widowed. In this edition of 

Facts for Features, unmarried people include those who were never married, widowed or 

divorced, unless otherwise noted.

Single Life

102 million

Number of unmarried people in America 18 and older in 2011. This group comprised 44.1

percent of all U.S. residents 18 and older. Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table A1 

53%

Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older who were women in 2011; 47 percent were 

men. 

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011 

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table A1 

62%

Percentage of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older in 2011 who had never been married. 

Another 24 percent were divorced, and 14 percent were widowed.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011 

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table A1 
17 million

Number of unmarried U.S. residents 65 and older in 2011. These seniors comprised 16 percent of 

all unmarried people 18 and older.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table A1 

89

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

2011.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011 

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table A1 

55 million

Number of households maintained by unmarried men and women in 2011. These households 

comprised 46 percent of households nationwide.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table A2

33 million

Number of people who lived alone in 2011. They comprised 28 percent of all households, up 

from 17 percent in 1970.

Source: America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table H1 and HH-4

Parenting

36%

Percentage of women age 15 to 50 with a birth in the last 12 months, as of 2010, who were 

widowed, divorced or never married.

Source: 2010 American Community Survey <http://factfinder.census.gov/> Table DP02

13.6 million

Number of unmarried parents living with their children in 2011. Of these, 10.0 million were 

unmarried mothers and 1.7 million were unmarried fathers, and 1.9 million were unmarried 

couples with at least one shared child.

Source: America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Tables FG5-1 and 

FG5-2

40%

Percentage of opposite-sex, unmarried-partner households in 2011 that included at least one 

biological child of either partner.

Source: Source: America's Families and Living Arrangements: 2011
<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html> Table UC3 

820,000

Number of unmarried grandparents who were caregivers for their grandchildren in 2010. They 

comprised about three in 10 grandparents who were responsible for their grandchildren.

Source: 2006-2010 American Community Survey <http://factfinder.census.gov/> Table B10057

Unmarried Couples

6.8 million

Number of unmarried-partner households in 2010. Of this number, 593,000 were same-sex 

households.

Source: 2010 American Community Survey <http://factfinder.census.gov/> Table B11009

Voters

35%

Percentage of voters in the 2010 November election who were unmarried.

Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of 2010

<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2010/tables.html> Table 9

38%

Percentage of voters in the 2008 presidential election who were unmarried.

Source: Voting and Registration in the Election of 2008

<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/socdemo/voting/publications/p20/2008/tables.html>

Table 11

Education

33%

Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2011 who had a high school diploma or 

equivalent as their highest level of attainment.

Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2011.html> Table 2

25%

Percentage of unmarried people 25 and older in 2011 with a bachelor's degree or more education.

Source: Educational Attainment in the United States: 2011

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2011.html> Table 2
Following is a list of observances typically covered by the Census Bureau’s Facts for Features series:

African-American History Month (February) Labor Day 

Super Bowl Grandparents Day 

Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15)

Women’s History Month (March) Unmarried and Single Americans Week 

Irish-American Heritage Month (March)/ Halloween (Oct. 31)

 St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month (May) (November) 

Older Americans Month (May) Veterans Day (Nov. 11)

Cinco de Mayo (May 5) Thanksgiving Day 

Mother’s Day The Holiday Season (December) 

Hurricane Season Begins (June 1)

Father’s Day 

The Fourth of July (July 4)

Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26)

Back to School (August)

Editor’s note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to 

sampling variability and other sources of error. Questions or comments should be directed to the 

Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: 301-763-3030; or e-mail: 

<pio@census.gov>.