Bergen County Residents Less Likely To Marry Than The Average U.S. Resident

Bergen County residents are slightly less likely to be married by the time they turn 26, according to information released by The New York Times this week.

An Upshot analysis of data compiled by a team of Harvard economists seems to reveal that geography plays a role in people’s lives and whether or not they tie the knot.

The data covers more than 5 million people who moved as children in the 1980s and 1990s.

Children growing up in and near New York City are much less likely to marry than people who grew up in the average place in the United States.

A child who grows up in Bergen County is 9 percent less likely to be married by the time he or she turns 26, the data shows.

New Jersey ranks at nearly the bottom of the list. Children growing up here are, on average, 6.6 percent less likely to be married by 26. Washington, D.C. is the only place ranked lower than the Garden State.

The places that discourage marriage the most are big cities, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, and their surrounding areas.

The states that encourage young adults to marry the most is Utah. Children growing up in the very conservative and religious state are almost 15 percent more likely to be married by 26. Idaho, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming round out the top five states.