San Mateo 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 241,914 100.00% 254,103 100.00%
Married Couple 129,023 53.33% 134,739 53.03%
With Children* 56,342 23.29% 62,599 24.64%
Without Children* 72,681 30.04% 72,140 28.39%
Female Householder, no spouse 23,721 9.81% 25,611 10.08%
With Children* 11,209 4.63% 11,908 4.69%
Without Children* 12,512 5.17% 13,703 5.39%
Male Householder, no spouse 9,573 3.96% 10,899 4.29%
With Children* 3,486 1.44% 4,452 1.75%
Without Children* 6,087 2.52% 6,447 2.54%
Non-Family Households 79,597 32.90% 82,854 32.61%
Living Alone 60,654 25.07% 62,626 24.65%
Two or More Persons 18,943 7.83% 20,228 7.96%

*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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