Data Show Minnesota Nears Dip Below 50 Percent Married Rate

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - New census data show Minnesota will soon have fewer than half of its adults in a marriage.

The data from the U.S. Census Bureau was released Thursday. Minnesota's marriage rate was 50.5 percent in 2014, down from 53 percent in 2005.

If the state's marriage rate continues falling at the same rate it has been lately, it would dip below 50 percent next year. Reports say it would be a historic turning point for Minnesota, which has had one of the nation's highest marriage rates.

State demographer Susan Brower says the marriage rate drop has "nothing to do with the institution of marriage," but rather it's "an age thing," including there being more seniors, who are more likely to be widowed.

Population Reference Bureau demographer Mark Mather says young adults with college degrees are delaying marriage.