Most Americans marry just once, survey says

WASHINGTON — Most Americans marry just once, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The American Community Survey, an ongoing statistical portrait of the characteristics of the nation’s population, found that of 3 million people, 76 percent of those who had ever married have married only once. Also nearly 20 percent of Americans have been married twice and 5 percent have been married three or more times, according to the survey released Sept. 21. Less than 11 percent of the population is currently divorced, and the average marriage, the Census Bureau said, lasts 18.2 years.

Nearly one in three Americans age 15 and older, or 31.2 percent, reported they had never been married, the highest level in a decade. The number previously had hovered for years around 27 percent before beginning to climb in 2006.