Census Data Of Same-Sex Households Shows More Than 500,000 In US

Same-sex couples make up more than a half million U.S. households, according to Census Bureau data released Thursday.

Since 2014, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same sex marriages, the number of married same-sex households has increased by almost 70%, rising to 568,110 couples in 2019, according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Of the 980,000 same-sex couple households reported in 2019, 58% were married couples and 42% were unmarried partners, the survey showed.

The survey also found same-sex married couples had a higher median income than opposite-sex married couples, $107,210 compared to $96,932 — though in same-sex marriages, male couples earned more than female couples, $123,646 versus $87,690.

In separate results released Thursday, the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey found the District of Columbia had the greatest concentration of same-sex households, at 2.4% of households, followed by Delaware, with 1.3%, Oregon, with 1.2%, Massachusetts, with 1.2% and Washington State with 1.1%.

In other findings reported by Axios:

• 48 was the average age for respondents in same-sex marriages, with the average age for their spouses at 47.
• 82% identified as white, 13% were Hispanic, almost 7% identified as Black, and almost 4% were Asian.
• 16% of same-sex married households were interracial couples, double the rate for opposite-sex married couples.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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