Iowa is One of the States Where Marriages Last the Longest

Iowans seem to be celebrating more anniversaries than a lot of other states in the U.S.!

USA Facts took a look at US Census Bureau data to determine some of the marriage trends in here in America, and according to that data, Iowa is one of the top ten states where marriages last the longest! The median duration of marriages in Iowa is around 22 years, putting us in 6th place. The states that make up the top five include:

1. West Virginia - 22.6 years
2. Wisconsin - 22.5 years
3. Vermont - 22.4 years
4. Montana - 22.1 years
5. Michigan - 22 years

On the other hand, the states that have the shortest marriages include:

1. Washington, D.C. - 10.5 years
2. Alaska - 16.8 years
3. Texas - 17.6 years
4. Nevada - 17.7 years
5. Utah - 18 years

The article from USA Facts also says that, overall, both men and women are getting married later in life than they used to. Here in Iowa, the median age of first marriage is 28.45-years-old. People in the Midwest tend to get married younger compared to other regions, especially the East Coast. It's interesting that folks in Utah are the state where people get married the youngest, because it's also in the top five states that have the shortest marriages.

Iowa also ranks pretty high when it comes to the percentage of people in the state that have ever been married. 68.29% of Iowans are either married or were married at some point. That's compared to 66.62% nationally.

In 2021, the number of women married per 1,000 women was around 15.2. The number of women divorced that same year  was 6.8 per 1,000 women. Alaska, Utah, and Colorado had the highest marriage rates in 2021, while Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut had the lowest.

You can read more about marriages trends in the U.S. in 2021 HERE.