3 Ways Your Hometown Predicts When You'll Get Married, According To Research

Here's how where you live dictates your marriage date.

By Nicole Weaver — Last updated on Aug 29, 2023

Photo: Wedding and lifestyle | Shutterstock

Where you were raised affects who you are and what you do, especially when it comes to marriage.

In fact, your hometown can lead you to be more or less religious, more adventurous, or even sheltered. But how does your hometown influence whether or not you will walk down the aisle?

In 2015, the New York Times reported that Upshot compiled data with Harvard economists who looked into upward mobility, housing, and tax policies and their influence on marriage rates. They noticed that certain areas have the same trends when it comes to marriage.

Here are 3 ways your hometown predicts when you'll get married:

1. If you're in a big city, you'll have a harder time finding love

If you're from a big city like New Orleans, Philadelphia, New York, or Los Angeles, your chances for marriage are pretty slim.

New York seems to be the worst place to move to as a child when it comes to being open to marriage as an adult. Economists found the top five areas that discourage marriage the most happen to be in New York.

The study found that of 5 million people who moved to New York as children during the 1980s and 1990s, they were less likely to marry than anywhere else in the United States.

The younger they moved to the city, the less likely they were to get married in adulthood.

2. If your county voted Republican, you'll most likely get married earlier

The study also found that areas that leaned toward voting Republican in the 2012 election are where people get married on a more frequent basis. So, there is a connection between partisanship and marriage rates.

The Pew Research Center surveyed people and asked "If society was better off when people made marriage and having children a priority." Fifty-nine percent of Republicans said yes, while only 35 percent of Democrats agreed.

This study effectively shows that Republicans value marriage more than their Democratic counterparts, thus marriage is more likely for Republicans.

3. If you're from the South, marriage depends on how much money you make

Many assume that if you live around the Bible belt, you're probably going to get married without any problems. However, research indicates that money really matters when it comes to marriage in the South.

Higher-income Southerners tend to get married more frequently, while lower-income Southerners are less likely to have a wedding day.

Among the southern African-American population, specifically, where there is lower income as well, there is a lower rate of marriage, in general.

Race is not the only factor, though. When poor families move to the South, the children in the family become less likely to marry as well because of their poor economic status.