Geographic Variation in the Prevalence of Same-sex and Different-sex Married and Cohabiting Couples, 2019-2023

Family Profile No. 20, 2025
Authors: Christopher A. Julian, Krista K. Westrick-Payne, & Wendy D. Manning

June 26, 2025 marks the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Although the number of same-sex married couples has grown since the ruling, cohabitation remains more common among same-sex couples than their different-sex counterparts (Walker & Taylor, 2021). This Family Profile updates FP-23-06 (Julian, 2023), drawing on American Community Survey, 5-year estimates 2023 from IPUMS USA (Ruggles et al., 2024) to estimate geographic variation in the share of same-sex cohabiting and married couples among all cohabiting and married couples. Married and cohabiting couples were identified using the revised household relationship roster (Kreider & Gurrentz, 2019), which restricted the sample to unions that included the household reference person. The ACS 5-year PUMS file provides period estimates based on data collected over five consecutive years, allowing for more reliable analysis of small populations and geographies that cannot be adequately measured using annual data alone (Raglin, 2022). The 2023 5-year file is notable as it is the first 5-year dataset to fully reflect responses gathered since the implementation of the revised household roster. Find our other profiles on LGBTQ+ relationships here.

Geographic Variation

The share of same-sex couples was highest in Washington, D.C. (8.21%) followed by Vermont at 2.70%. Notably, the share in Washington, D.C. was 3-times larger than the second highest state. The state with the lowest share of same-sex couples was South Dakota (0.59%).

States with a higher share of same-sex couples were concentrated in the Northeast—such as Vermont (2.70%), Delaware (2.44%), Massachusetts (2.37%), New York (2.19%), and Maine (2.07%).
There was also a high share of same-sex couples in the Pacific West, including Oregon (2.19%), Hawaii (2.17%), Washington (2.12%), and California (2.09%). Higher shares were also evident in the Southwest in New Mexico (2.35%) and Nevada (2.21%).
States with the lowest shares of same-sex couples were most concentrated in the Midwest, particularly in the West North Central division (North Dakota (1.19%), Kansas (1.23%), Iowa (1.02%), Nebraska (0.85%), South Dakota (0.59%)) and in the East North Central division (Michigan (1.29%) and Wisconsin (1.26%)).
In the South, four states had notably low shares of same-sex couples, including two in the East South Central division (Alabama (1.18%) and Mississippi (0.96%)), and one in the West South Central division (Arkansas (1.20%)). There was also a low concentration of same-sex couples in the West Mountain division (Montana (1.07%) and Idaho (0.88%)).

Figure 1. Map of the Share of Unions Including Same-Sex Couples, 2023

Source: NCFMR analyses of Community Survey, 5-year estimates 2023 from IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org

State Rankings

Table 1. Ranking of States by Share of Unions to Same-Sex Couples, 2023

Rank	State	Percent	MOE
1	District of Columbia	8.21%	±0.78%
2	Vermont	2.70%	±0.51%
3	Delaware	2.44%	±0.40%
4	Massachusetts	2.37%	±0.14%
5	New Mexico	2.35%	±0.32%
6	Nevada	2.21%	±0.20%
7	Oregon	2.19%	±0.18%
8	New York	2.19%	±0.09%
9	Hawaii	2.17%	±0.31%
10	Washington	2.12%	±0.10%
11	California	2.09%	±0.05%
12	Maine	2.07%	±0.27%
13	Florida	2.04%	±0.10%
14	Rhode Island	1.99%	±0.25%
15	Colorado	1.89%	±0.14%
16	Arizona	1.86%	±0.12%
17	Connecticut	1.85%	±0.17%
18	Georgia	1.76%	±0.11%
	United States	1.70%	±0.02%
19	Maryland	1.69%	±0.13%
20	New Hampshire	1.67%	±0.23%
21	Texas	1.64%	±0.06%
22	Louisiana	1.58%	±0.18%
23	Illinois	1.56%	±0.09%
24	Pennsylvania	1.53%	±0.11%
25	Minnesota	1.52%	±0.15%
26	North Carolina	1.50%	±0.09%
27	Utah	1.47%	±0.22%
28	Kentucky	1.47%	±0.13%
29	Missouri	1.46%	±0.11%
30	Virginia	1.46%	±0.11%
31	Indiana	1.43%	±0.10%
32	Ohio	1.42%	±0.07%
33	Tennessee	1.38%	±0.10%
34	Alaska	1.37%	±0.36%
35	New Jersey	1.36%	±0.09%
36	Wyoming	1.30%	±0.41%
37	South Carolina	1.30%	±0.11%
38	Oklahoma	1.29%	±0.14%
39	Michigan	1.29%	±0.09%
40	Wisconsin	1.26%	±0.13%
41	Kansas	1.23%	±0.19%
42	Arkansas	1.20%	±0.13%
43	West Virginia	1.19%	±0.18%
44	North Dakota	1.19%	±0.53%
45	Alabama	1.18%	±0.13%
46	Montana	1.07%	±0.24%
47	Iowa	1.02%	±0.14%
48	Mississippi	0.96%	±0.13%
49	Idaho	0.88%	±0.19%
50	Nebraska	0.85%	±0.15%
51	South Dakota	0.59%	±0.20%

Data Source
Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Backman, D., Chen, A., Cooper, G., Richards, S., Rodgers, R., & Schouweiler, M. (2024). IPUMS USA: Version 15.0 [Dataset]. IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V15.0

References
Julian, C. A. (2023). Geographic variation in percentage of unions including same-sex and different-sex couples unions. Family Profiles, FP-23-05. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-23-06

Kreider, R. M., & Gurrentz, B. (2019). Updates to collection and editing of household relationship measures in the Current Population Survey. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/working-papers/2019/demo/SEHSD-WP-2018-30.pdf

Raglin, D. (2022). Period estimates in the American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2022/03/period-estimates-american-community-survey.html

Walker, L., & Taylor, D. (2021). Same-sex couple households: 2019. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2021/acs/acsbr-005.pdf.

Suggested Citation
Julian, C. A., Westrick-Payne, K. K., & Manning, W. D. (2025). Geographic variation in the prevalence of same-sex and different-sex married and cohabiting couples, 2019-2023. Family Profiles, FP-25-20. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-25-20

This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.

Updated: 06/13/2025 12:44PM