According to data released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau in their annual American Community Survey (via WNYC), New York state has the highest percentage of women who have never married in all of America. While the percentage statewide is 34.8 percent (that counts New York women 15 and over, which seems a bit young to us, but, then, we’re not crunching the numbers), that statistic is supported largely by the women of New York City, where never-married ladies make up 41.7 percent of the population.
However, lest you start arguing that this is exactly the problem of dating in the city (more women than men means women can’t find a guy and get hitched, a/k/a, the so-called Plight of the Single Lady), know that 46.7 percent of New York City men have never been married. So, it’s actually rather even-sided. In fact, MORE men than women have never been married.
According to recent stats, single women outnumber single men in New York by 149,219, which accounts for the continuing argument some make that women who really want to find a husband should head West, like, to Wyoming, where never-married women number only 20.7 percent.
In New York, statistically, we also get married far later than the average (in our 30s rather than our 20s, generally speaking), for a variety of reasons, and there’s a dividing line of sorts with regard to race: Asians in New York City were the most likely to be married, while 51 percent of black women and 54 percent of black men had never been married. Unmarried moms have gone up as well: 37 percent of New York City moms were not married in 2010.
On the plus side, New York has some pretty damn low divorce rates. And just think of all the singles you can mingle with tonight to celebrate not getting hit by a piece of space junk.
Previously: Dear Single Women of NYC: It’s Not Them, It’s You.