New data from the US Census Bureau cites that the percentage of young adults (ages 25 to 34) who have never married has been on a steady rise over the past decade, from 35% in 2000 to 44% in 2008. The same number increased again in 2009 to 46%, passing up the percentage of married young adults at 45% for the first time. While there may be a lot of various factors leading to this shift, one possible driver is the poor economy coupled with the high cost of weddings. We also see this same trend around age within our data at Hitwise, where the share of visits to the Weddings category from visitors between the ages of 25 to 34 declined to 21% for the 4 weeks ending September 25, 2010 from 26% on year ago. Interestingly, the age group that increased the most during the same time frame was 18-24, rather than from visitors over 35 that may be marrying later.

Additionally, the overall share of married couples in the U.S. hit a 100-year low last year according the US Census Bureau, as the percentage of married adults decreased to 52% from 57% in 2000. Similarly, across all age groups, visits to websites in the Wedding category declined 3% for the week ending September 25, 2010 as compared to the same week last year and 10% two years ago.

This trend is also evident among the visits from DMAs visiting the websites in the Weddings category where there are declines in major cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the percentage unmarried adults are higher. However, there was growth among others in the top 10 DMAs to visit the category which included Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston.