Census Bureau Releases New Data on Same-Sex Couples in the United States

There were about 1.2 million same-sex couple households in the United States in 2021, according to recently released Census Bureau data. Of these 631,900 were same-sex woman couples and 577,600 were same-sex male couples.

Roughly 710,000 of the same-sex couple households were married and about 500,000 were unmarried.

The median household income in female same-sex couple households ($92,470) was lower than in male same-sex couple households ($116,800).

Both partners in 34 percent of same-sex partner households had at least a bachelor’s degree compared to 27.9 percent in opposite-sex married couples. Male same-sex couples were more likely than their female counterparts to both have bachelor’s degrees.

Nearly 82 percent of married opposite-sex couples owned their home. Only 63.6 percent of same-sex couples owned their home.

Only 6.3 percent of male, same-sex couples lived in a household with at least one of their own children. More than 21 percent of female same-sex couples lived in a household with at least one of their own children.

A larger share of same-sex (31.6%) than opposite-sex (18.4%) married couples were interracial. Some 38 percent of male same-sex couples were interracial compared to 27.5 percent of female same-sex couples.