Report: Same-Sex Couple Households in U.S. Exceed 1 Million

Same-sex households in the U.S. exceeded one million in 2021 for the first time ever, according to data touted by the U.S. Census.

Data from the American Community Survey, released by the U.S. Census Bureau, found that there were 1.2 million same-sex couple households in 2021. The trend has remained relatively steadily on the rise over the past 10+ years, as there were less than 600,000 same-sex couple households recorded in 2008. Over ten years later, in 2019, that figure hovered below one million.

Of the 1.2 million same-sex households recorded in 2021, 710,000 were married, and 500,000 unmarried. 

According to the Census Bureau data, South Dakota reported the lowest percentage of same-sex households, with less than half of a percentage point, or 0.4 percent. 

Washington, D.C., had “the highest percentage of same-sex couple households of any state or state equivalent,” at 2.5 percent, per the data. Other areas that reported some of the highest figures of same-sex households included Hawaii (1.4 percent), Oregon (1.3 percent), and Delaware (1.3 percent).