Average marriage age in your area...

[GoingCrazy29]

I''ve been wondering this for awhile after reading different posts around here- what do you think the average age to get married is in your area?

For instance, in my tiny hometown in southern Indiana it is not strange AT ALL to get married between 20-25. In fact, its almost unheard of to still be single at 30. My mom can''t believe that my sister is 27 and I''m almost 26 and we aren''t married yet- especially since my brother got married at 24 (she''s a bit of a nutball). However, my friends from larger cities think that getting married that young is crazy and most wait till late 20''s or 30''s at least to tie the knot. My 23 year old friend from a small town that got married and moved to a big city gets people telling her all the time that she was SOO young to get married, but it was an average age for her area.

What would you guess the average age for people to get married in your region is? Why do you think its like that?

Note: I know this is completely subjective and has TONS of variables and factors, but I just wanted to get a general PS consensus.

 

[cbs102]

i grew up in a suburb of NYC. Most of my childhood friends are just getting engaged now.. i think that i have about 3 friends that are already married. My fiance is from a small town in central PA. when i met his parents they actually questioned what was wrong with me that i was not married already. (i was 27 at the time). I explained to her that where i am from people want to go to school and succeed in their carreer before they settle down and have a family. I know that for me i wanted to establish myself and make money so that when i did have children i could live comfortably. They also did not like that i did not have children.. and again thought that something was wrong with me. my MIL actually said that she was too old to be a grandmother now... yeah ok- you are 51.

all of my FIs friends are married and have 2.5 kids already.. and he is 30...

 

[MonkeyPie]

I was the last of my close friends to be married, at 26. I have one that got married at 21 and another at 23. I think in the smaller towns people tend to get married sooner, and in the big cities closer to 30, if at all. Something about the "selection" being smaller maybe

 

[GoingCrazy29]

Date: 8/27/2008 10:24:25 AM
Author: MonkeyPie
I was the last of my close friends to be married, at 26. I have one that got married at 21 and another at 23. I think in the smaller towns people tend to get married sooner, and in the big cities closer to 30, if at all. Something about the ''selection'' being smaller maybe

What area are you from?

 

[MonkeyPie]

New Mexico, right outside ABQ.

 

[Pandora II]

Early 30's.

I'm 36, DH is 33 and it's only this year that we have started going to friend's weddings.

I live in London. Most people are too busy with their careers to think about marriage, and you can't begin to afford a house till you get to around that age! Anyone who gets married under 27 will get a lot of comments about being too young.

Some people I was at school with got married in their early 20's. Every single one of them is now divorced and either married for the second time, or about to.

 

[oobiecoo]

An average for my area is probably 20-25. Alot of guys around here seem to go into the army and I think that contributes to the younger age. Everyone wants to be married before their men go off to Iraq. We also have quite a few universities in this part of the state and alot of the students get married right out of college.

And I don't come from a small town. We do seem to have a large Mormon population (not sure if it is larger than other areas) and they tend to marry earlier. And we're near the Bible Belt so maybe that has something to do with it also.

ETA: None of these things mentioned apply to me lol. I am married at 22... simply because of my maturity level.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I have just a few, few friends getting married now and I am 21. However, my older sister is 24, and in the last 3 years she has been to at least 15 weddings of her friends. I think with her group, there is a large chunk that got married between the ages of 20-22. For the last year or two, the weddings have calmed down. I''m sure she''ll have many more to go to once her peers hit 27-30.

 

[jewelerman]

People in my area get married early...21-24.

 

[vespergirl]

I think that generally in areas where people go to school for longer, they get married later. I live in a DC suburb where it''s common to have at least a Master''s or Doctorate, so most people don''t get married at all before late 20s, but the average is more like early 30s. I think that in more working-class areas, the age is younger, because maybe people are earning salaries and getting homes after high school, so they''re ready to start their families as well. I also think that in more religious areas, like the Bible Belt, people are urged to marry younger since premarital sex is frowned upon there.

My personal experience is this - I got married for the first time when I was 23 and my ex-husband was 27 (we''re from NYC and Los Angeles, respectively) and everybody was shocked that we were getting married so young, before grad school. That marriage lasted until I was 25. When I got married to my currect husband, I was 29 and he was 34, and that''s more of the average in our community.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

I live in southcentral PA, very close to the Mason-Dixon line. When I got married to my XH, we were both 22. When I married DH, I was 27 and he was 26. (I just turned 30 and DH will be 30 in November.) I think the average age in my area is probably about mid to late 20s.

 

[LuckyTexan]

Well, I have no idea about my area, but in my circle of friends... we all got married between 25 and 30. My parents married at 18 and 19 and have been married for 38 years this October. I think if it works, it works. Age won''t matter!

 

[musey]

Date: 8/27/2008 10:13:59 AM
Author:GoingCrazy29
For instance, in my tiny hometown in southern Indiana it is not strange AT ALL to get married between 20-25. In fact, its almost unheard of to still be single at 30.

Same here, one state over. Though the age of marriage is going up in my generation--my cousins who are 10-15 years older from in-town all married in the 18-23 range, and though many of my HS peers did the same, the college-bound ones have all waited and most of that set are still single.

my friends from larger cities think that getting married that young is crazy and most wait till late 20's or 30's at least to tie the knot.

I've experienced the higher marriage age here in LA, as well. Though here they don't seem to think it's crazy, as FI and I are relatively young (23/24) and we haven't gotten any "you're crazy!" comments from them, they just don't have much interest in marriage themselves. Though they're certainly having a lot of fun with the fact that WE'RE getting married

To be fair, I was one of those "it's crazy to get married under 25!" people. I fully intended to be a single girl playing the field all through college and my twenties, and perhaps consider marriage around 30. I had ZERO interest in "settling down," especially not at 23!!

And then, there was FI

I always thought that love/marriage got in the way of education and career, but for us it hasn't. If anything, it's made things easier... we have a settled life at home, which is a great help in supporting our career life, and sharing expenses in this city has made life a lot less stressful... which leaves a calmer mind to concentrate on work

 

[Dancing Fire]

most of my friends got marry b/t 26-28.

if i can turn the clock back i would of marry at 25 instead of 27 and have both kids by age 28.

 

[curlygirl]

Here in NYC, most people I know are getting married in their early to mid 30s. My whole circle of friends (including myself), didn''t get married until at least 35.

 

[neatfreak]

Where I am from (MA) I would say late 20''s for most people. But it isn''t out of the ordinary to get married mid-20''s. It is a bit out of the ordinary for people to get married younger than that.

Where I am in the Midwest currently the age is definitely skewed downwards, with most people marrying in their early/mid 20''s.

 

[ursulawrite]

I was 25 when I got married, and lived in London; DH was 30.

I was the first among my friends by at least two years, while DH was one of the last. Most of his friends, like he is, are Jewish NY''ers, and I think the religious element expedites the need to marry young-ish.

 

[oobiecoo]

Date: 8/27/2008 11:55:30 AM
Author: vespergirl
I think that generally in areas where people go to school for longer, they get married later. I live in a DC suburb where it''s common to have at least a Master''s or Doctorate, so most people don''t get married at all before late 20s, but the average is more like early 30s. I think that in more working-class areas, the age is younger, because maybe people are earning salaries and getting homes after high school, so they''re ready to start their families as well. I also think that in more religious areas, like the Bible Belt, people are urged to marry younger since premarital sex is frowned upon there.


My personal experience is this - I got married for the first time when I was 23 and my ex-husband was 27 (we''re from NYC and Los Angeles, respectively) and everybody was shocked that we were getting married so young, before grad school. That marriage lasted until I was 25. When I got married to my currect husband, I was 29 and he was 34, and that''s more of the average in our community.

I wouldn''t say that''s necessarily always the case. Many of the Christians in this area just seem to place more value on starting families younger because kids are a blessing and all of that. I agree that a few people get married because they don''t want to wait for sex, but I don''t think thats the norm.

 

[Sabine]

The average in my area is probably between 24-28, as evidenced by the sheer number of friends I have whose weddings were/will be recently!

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 8/27/2008 1:36:57 PM
Author: oobiecoo

Date: 8/27/2008 11:55:30 AM
Author: vespergirl
I think that generally in areas where people go to school for longer, they get married later. I live in a DC suburb where it''s common to have at least a Master''s or Doctorate, so most people don''t get married at all before late 20s, but the average is more like early 30s. I think that in more working-class areas, the age is younger, because maybe people are earning salaries and getting homes after high school, so they''re ready to start their families as well. I also think that in more religious areas, like the Bible Belt, people are urged to marry younger since premarital sex is frowned upon there.


My personal experience is this - I got married for the first time when I was 23 and my ex-husband was 27 (we''re from NYC and Los Angeles, respectively) and everybody was shocked that we were getting married so young, before grad school. That marriage lasted until I was 25. When I got married to my currect husband, I was 29 and he was 34, and that''s more of the average in our community.

I wouldn''t say that''s necessarily always the case. Many of the Christians in this area just seem to place more value on starting families younger because kids are a blessing and all of that. I agree that a few people get married because they don''t want to wait for sex, but I don''t think thats the norm.

Good point Oobiecoo - I''ve actually never lived in that part of the country, so I was just making a generalization based on what I''ve heard from friends living in Kentucky & Tennessee

And as far as having kids when you''re younger, sometimes I wish that I had started earlier, because my almost-2-yr-old son is constantly running circles around me - I think I would have had more energy to keep up with him in my mid-20s

 

[somethingshiny]

I live in a rural area in IL. It is uncommon to not be married by age 25 for males and females. I have a friend who will be 30 in a few months who is not married, and I know one 27 year old who is not married. I have a 22 year old sis who is married and the majority of her friends are married, and an 18 yr old sis who has friends getting married.

 

[musey]

Vesper, it is true for some. I have some friends (I grew up just off the end of the bible belt, very predominantly Christian community) who admit to marrying younger (18-22) because they wanted to have sex and "couldn't" otherwise

Of course this is not a blanket rule, but it does happen.

I have nothing holding me back from pre-m

, and I am living with my FI, yet we're STILL marrying young (by most standards)!

 

[iwannaprettyone]

18 to 23...I am a total oldmaid at 26 lmao...but i don''t care.

 

[innerkitten]

I live in San Francisco. Not too many people getting maried in there early twenties around here. I think the average is probably late twenties to early thirtes.

One of my best friends is getting married this April and she'll be 38.

 

[Quinnie]

I''ll be 22 when I get married in June and FI will be 24. We''re from Delaware. When we first meet people and they find out we''re getting married we get asked:

1) Are you super religious or something? (Nope)
2) Are either one of you in the military? (Nope)
3) Well, then are you crazy or something? (Eh, probably!

)

So, I''d say the average marriage age is late twenties, early thirties.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

DH and I live in Ohio and I was 22, almost 23, when we got married in 2005. Mid to late 20''s is pretty standard around here.

Diva

 

[purrfectpear]

Here in the midwest (Kansas) most get married either just after high school graduation, or just after college. I think I knew ONE person who was still unmarried at age 30.

In Los Angeles it depends more on the socio-economic class. More money=Later marriage. Heck there are tons of young "adults" (using the term loosely) in their late 20''s who haven''t even left home yet. As long as mom is willing to cook, iron, and pair up socks, they don''t seem to be in any hurry to take on adult responsibilities and pay their own way. I don''t understand parents who let kids age 28 live at home without contributing, but to each their own

I told mine it''s full time student, or full time job, but there wasn''t going to be any laying around watching Jerry Springer all day

 

[KimberlyH]

I''ve lived in or around (suburbs) of three major cities in California and I would guess the average age to marry amongst the people I know is late 20s. Among my closest friends, who all live in Northern California, I was married the youngest at 29.

 

[Haven]

Hubby is from Chicago, he's 38, and we just got married. Most of his close friends were recently married, too, all of them in their mid to late thirties.

I'm from a suburb of Chicago, 27, and most of my friends have been marrying recently in their late twenties.

Most of us have at least one graduate or professional degree, which puts off your social life for a while.

I work in a less-affluent northwest suburb of Chicago, and people tend to marry much younger in that area, between 20 and 25.

 

[ladypirate]

I''d say mid to late 20s. I had two friends get married relatively young (21 for one and 23 for the other) and I have one friend who is engaged and will be 25, but most aren''t even thinking along those lines yet. I have one friend who has been with her BF for 8 years now and they''re thinking they might get married in another 3 or 4 years!