PEW Research on marriage and divorce. One surprise - only 28% of men are married in the District of Columbia

In Arkansas and Oklahoma, men and women marry young -- half of first-time brides in these states were 24 or younger on their wedding day. These states also have above-average shares of women who divorced in 2007-2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .click on image to enlarge

It's the opposite state of affairs in Massachusetts and New York. Their residents marry late -- half of ever-married New York men were older than 30 when they first wed. These states also have below-average shares of men and women who divorced in 2007-2008.

Remember the classic country song: "All My Exs Live in Texas"? Well, George Strait was on to something. Looking at numbers, Texas is indeed home to more thrice-married adults than any other state, about 428,000 women and 373,000 men. But that's partly because it's home to so many people, period. Looking at rates, about 6% of Texans who ever have been married have wed three times or more. That is similar to the national average (5%), but well below the leaders in this category -- the neighboring states of Arkansas and Oklahoma -- where about 10% of all ever-married adults have had at least three spouses.

A state's education levels, for example, tend to be associated with the median age at marriage and the multiple-marriage patterns of its residents. In states with high shares of college-educated adults, men and women marry at older ages, a finding supported by other research indicating that highly educated individuals marry later in life. In states with low shares of college-educated adults, adults are more likely than average to marry three or more times. In states with low income levels, men are more likely than average to have been married three or more times.

For this analysis, correlation also was tested between a state's marriage or divorce statistics and the share of its 2008 presidential election vote that went Democratic. States with high shares of Democratic votes tended to have lower shares of currently married residents, lower shares of adults married at least three times and low rates of marriages within the previous year. Residents of states with high shares of Democratic votes tend to marry at older ages than residents of states with low shares of Democratic votes. Read the full report here.

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