A new report from the Pew Research Center reveals that 77% of American adults between the ages of 38 and 43 have lived with an unmarried romantic partner at some point in their lives.
The findings draw on data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, which has tracked a nationally representative group of Americans born between 1980 and 1984.
The most recent round of that survey was conducted in 2023, giving researchers an unusually detailed longitudinal view of cohabitation trends across early adulthood.
Of the 77% who reported cohabiting outside of marriage, 37% said they had lived with two or more different romantic partners over the course of their lives.
Despite the prevalence of unmarried cohabitation, Pew found that most couples who have lived together do ultimately go on to marry.
Education levels appear to play a significant role in shaping cohabitation patterns, with notable differences emerging across credential levels.
Adults with a high school diploma or less were the most likely to have ever cohabited, at 82%, compared with 78% of those with some college education and 70% of those holding at least a bachelor’s degree.
However, adults with a bachelor’s degree are more likely than those without one to eventually marry a partner they have lived with, suggesting education shapes not just the frequency but the outcome of cohabitation.
College-educated adults are also the most likely to have lived with only one romantic partner, with 46% reporting this, compared with 38% of those with some college and 35% of those with a high school diploma or less.
The age at which Americans first cohabit also varies sharply by education level, with 27% of all adults who had ever cohabited reporting they first did so before the age of 20.
That share rises steeply among those with a high school education or less, 40% of whom first cohabited before age 20, while only 12% of those with at least a bachelor’s degree did the same.
Racial and ethnic differences were also present in the data, with White adults reporting the highest rates of cohabitation at 79%, compared with 74% for Hispanic adults and 71% for Black adults.
The findings underscore a broad cultural shift in how Americans approach romantic partnerships, with unmarried cohabitation now representing a near-universal experience across demographic groups by early middle age.
