Middlesex County

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 519,527 100.00% 561,220 100.00%
Married Couple 276,180 53.16% 287,632 51.25%
With Children* 123,283 23.73% 135,621 24.17%
Without Children* 152,897 29.43% 152,011 27.09%
Female Householder, no spouse 54,602 10.51% 55,308 9.85%
With Children* 24,649 4.74% 27,467 4.89%
Without Children* 29,953 5.77% 27,841 4.96%
Male Householder, no spouse 16,523 3.18% 18,136 3.23%
With Children* 4,301 0.83% 6,345 1.13%
Without Children* 12,222 2.35% 11,791 2.10%
Non-Family Households 172,222 33.15% 200,144 35.66%
Living Alone 131,009 25.22% 152,301 27.14%
Two or More Persons 41,213 7.93% 47,843 8.52%

*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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