Child Marriage – Shocking Statistics

Nearly 300,000 children -- under age 18 -- were legally married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018.

How many children married in your state between 2000-2018?* *Includes actual and estimated data. Alabama: 9,166 Alaska: 808 Arizona: 8,795 Arkansas: 8,458 California: 23,588 Colorado: 5,316 Connecticut: 1,230 Delaware: 219 D.C.: 77 Florida: 17,274 Georgia: 10,123 Hawaii: 795 Idaho: 5,160 Illinois: 7,540 Indiana: 5,086 Iowa: 1,356 Kansas: 3,028 Kentucky: 11,251 Louisiana: 5,106 Maine: 810 Maryland: 3,469 Massachusetts: 1,246 Michigan: 5,259 Minnesota: 1,118 Mississippi: 5,360 Missouri: 8,007 Montana: 469 Nebraska: 1,265 Nevada: 17,403 New Hampshire: 206 New Jersey: 2,225 New Mexico: 3,593 New York: 4,890 North Carolina: 12,637 North Dakota: 306 Ohio: 4,995 Oklahoma: 8,495 Oregon: 3,591 Pennsylvania: 3,052 Rhode Island: 171 South Carolina: 5,443 South Dakota: 809 Tennessee: 9,783 Texas: 41,774 Utah: 5,600 Vermont: 272 Virginia: 7,849 Washington: 4,831 West Virginia: 3,532 Wisconsin: 2,985 Wyoming: 1,239

Where does your state rank when it comes to child marriage per capita?* *Includes actual and estimated data for 2000-2018. 1. Nevada (0.67%), 2. Idaho (0.34%), 3. Arkansas (0.3%), 4. Kentucky (0.26%), 5. Oklahoma (0.23%), 6. Wyoming (0.23%), 7. Utah (0.21%), 8. Alabama (0.2%), 9. West Virginia (0.19%), 10. Mississippi (0.18%) 11. New Mexico (0.18%), 12. Texas (0.17%), 13. Tennessee (0.16%), 14. Arizona (0.14%), 15. North Carolina (0.14%), 16. Missouri (0.14%), 17. South Carolina (0.12%), 18. Alaska (0.12%), 19. Louisiana (0.11%), 20. Kansas (0.11%), 21. Georgia (0.11%), 22. Colorado (0.11%), 23. South Dakota (0.1%), 24. Virginia (0.1%), 25. Oregon (0.1%), 26. Florida (0.09%), 27. Indiana (0.08%), 28. Washington (0.07%), 29. Nebraska (0.07%), 30. California (0.06%), 31. Maine (0.06%), 32. Maryland (0.06%), 33. Hawaii (0.06%), 34. Illinois (0.06%), 35. Wisconsin (0.05%), 36. Michigan (0.05%), 37. Montana (0.05%), 38. Iowa (0.05%), 39. North Dakota (0.05%), 40. Vermont (0.04%), 41. Ohio (0.04%), 42. Connecticut (0.03%), New Jersey (0.03%), 44. New York (0.03%), 45. Delaware (0.03%), 46. Pennsylvania (0.02), 47. Minnesota (0.02%), 48. Massachusetts (0.02%), 49. Rhode Island (0.02%), 50. New Hampshire (0.02%), 51. District of Columbia (0.01%)

Nearly all the children married recently were age 16 or 17, typically too young to leave home, enter a domestic violence shelter or file for divorce, even if a marriage turns abusive. 10 year olds: 5, 11 year old: 1, 12 year olds: 14, 13 year olds: 78, 14 year olds: 1,233, 15 year olds: 8,199, 16 year olds: 63,956, 17 year olds: 148,944 *Numbers are for children wed 2000-2018 for whom age data were available.

Most of the children married recently were girls wed to adult men. * *Percentages are for children wed 2011-2018 for whom gender and spousal data were available. Minor girl to minor girl: less than 1%; minor girl to minor boy: 12%; minor girl to adult woman: less than 1%; minor girl to adult man: 78%; minor boy to minor boy: less than 1%; minor boy to adult woman: 9%; minor boy to adult man: less than 1%.

Child marriage is much more likely to happen to girls than to boys: 86% = minor girls wed. 14% = minor boys wed. Percentages are for children wed 2000-2018 for whom gender data were available.

The number of children married in the U.S. has declined in most years, but will not get to zero without legislative intervention. 2000: 76,396; 2001: 35,809; 2002: 20,542; 2003: 18,867; 2004: 17,033; 2005: 16,871; 2006: 14,191; 2007: 12,710; 2008: 11,421; 2009: 10,325; 2010: 9,102; 2011: 22,361; 2012: 6,962; 2013: 5,933; 2014: 4,943; 2015: 4,275; 2016: 3,695; 2017: 3,104; 2018: 2,493. Actual data only. Excludes estimates.