RatioMap
Where do never-married young adults skew male or female? Explore gender ratios for every U.S. city and county.
Never-Married Singles (Ages 25–34)
Counties greyed out have fewer than 10,000 residents or insufficient data for this age group. Data: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates.
Why does every map skew male?
These maps show people who have never been married — not all single people. Divorced, separated, and widowed people are excluded. Three factors drive the universal male skew:
- Women marry at higher rates. By age 30, roughly 62% of women have married at least once versus 52% of men.
- Women marry younger. The median age at first marriage is about 28 for women and 30 for men, meaning women leave the never-married pool earlier.
- Men remarry more. Men remarry after divorce at higher rates (52% vs 44% within five years) — when they marry never-married women, it removes another woman from the never-married pool without removing a man.
Together, these effects produce 10–30% more never-married men than women in most counties. The gender gap in life expectancy (women outliving men) affects widowed statistics, not these maps.
College-Educated Gender Ratio
Counties greyed out have fewer than 10,000 residents or insufficient data. Ratio = college-educated males per 100 college-educated females (bachelor's degree or higher, age 25+).
Why does this map skew female?
Women have earned the majority of bachelor's degrees in the U.S. since 1982, and the gap has widened steadily since. Today, roughly 58% of college students are women. Among adults age 25 and older, about 39% of women hold a bachelor's degree versus 32% of men, producing more college-educated women than men in most counties.