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HOUSEHOLD AND FAMILY STRUCTURE

A household is defined as one or more people living in a residence. A family is more than one person living together, either married or of the same bloodline. The head of a household is one of the people who owns or rents the residence and was indicated first on the Census questionnaire.

The tendency for people to marry at an older age and the number of married people getting divorced may have contributed to the overall drop in married couples. Also, it may more culturally acceptable for people to not get married at all or to have non-traditional relationships.

Household Types, 1990-2000
1990 2000
Number Percent Number Percent
Total Households 2,671,540 100.00% 2,971,690 100.00%
Married Couple 1,392,423 52.12% 1,490,786 50.17%
With Children* 670,530 25.10% 748,507 25.19%
Without Children* 721,893 27.02% 742,279 24.98%
Female Householder, no spouse 355,218 13.30% 394,402 13.27%
With Children* 186,592 6.98% 209,772 7.06%
Without Children* 168,626 6.31% 184,630 6.21%
Male Householder, no spouse 104,487 3.91% 129,676 4.36%
With Children* 36,522 1.37% 51,890 1.75%
Without Children* 67,965 2.54% 77,786 2.62%
Non-Family Households 819,412 30.67% 956,826 32.20%
Living Alone 683,728 25.59% 784,060 26.38%
Two or More Persons 135,684 5.08% 172,766 5.81%

*In this table, children are people under age 18.

Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).

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