Where same-sex couples live, how marriage equality arrived state by state, what a marriage license actually costs, and where it’s easiest to elope — compiled from the 2020 Census, CDC marriage statistics, and county clerk data covering every U.S. county.
1,155,890
same-sex couple households (2020 Census)
3,115
counties where they were counted
≈2,022,000
U.S. weddings per year (all couples, est.)
$50
median county marriage-license fee
Where same-sex couples live
The 2020 Census (DHC table PCT15) counted same-sex married and unmarried-partner households in every county. The biggest numbers follow the biggest cities — but the concentration list tells a different story.
Most couples (absolute)
- 1.Los Angeles County, California45,117
- 2.Cook County, Illinois23,666
- 3.New York County, New York19,698
- 4.Maricopa County, Arizona18,946
- 5.Harris County, Texas17,415
- 6.King County, Washington16,214
- 7.San Diego County, California15,148
- 8.Kings County, New York13,822
- 9.Broward County, Florida13,227
- 10.Dallas County, Texas13,061
- 11.Riverside County, California12,791
- 12.Miami-Dade County, Florida12,610
- 13.San Francisco County, California12,484
- 14.Clark County, Nevada11,548
- 15.Alameda County, California10,075
Highest concentration (per 1,000 households)
- 1.San Francisco County, California34.3
- 2.New York County, New York25.3
- 3.Hampshire County, Massachusetts25.1
- 4.District of Columbia, District of Columbia24.8
- 5.Multnomah County, Oregon24.7
- 6.DeKalb County, Georgia21.2
- 7.Buncombe County, North Carolina21.2
- 8.Sussex County, Delaware20.8
- 9.Monroe County, Florida20.3
- 10.Suffolk County, Massachusetts19.8
- 11.Santa Fe County, New Mexico19.5
- 12.Denver County, Colorado19.3
- 13.Columbia County, New York18.6
- 14.Orleans Parish, Louisiana17.6
- 15.St. Louis city, Missouri17.6
How marriage equality arrived
It took 11 years to get from Massachusetts (2004) to all fifty states. 14 states only recognized same-sex marriage when Obergefell v. Hodges required it on June 26, 2015. Every state page has the full local story.
2004Massachusetts
2008Connecticut
2009Iowa · Vermont
2010District of Columbia · New Hampshire
2011New York
2012Maine · Washington
2013California · Delaware · Hawaii · Maryland · Minnesota · New Jersey · New Mexico · Rhode Island
2014Alaska · Arizona · Colorado · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Montana · Nevada · North Carolina · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · South Carolina · Utah · Virginia · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming
2015Alabama · Arkansas · Florida · Georgia · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Michigan · Mississippi · Missouri · Nebraska · North Dakota · Ohio · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas
What a license costs
Marriage-license fees are set county by county. Median of each state’s reported county fees (states with at least three counties reporting):
Where eloping is easiest
1,125 counties qualify as elope-friendly — no waiting period, no witnesses, or self-uniting licenses, with nothing in the clerk data contradicting it. States ranked by the share of their judged counties that qualify (full ranking on the elopement guide):
Every one of those weddings needs an officiant.
Get ordained with the Church of Pride — $20, instant certificate, valid for life.
Get Ordained NowMethodology & sources
- Same-sex couple households: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC), table PCT15 — married plus unmarried-partner same-sex households, by county. Connecticut’s planning regions post-date the 2020 Census and are not counted.
- Weddings per year: CDC/NCHS state marriage rates (2023 provisional) applied to county population — an estimate of all weddings, not only LGBTQ ones.
- Marriage equality timeline: compiled from the public record of court rulings, statutes, and ballot measures; each state page carries the state’s story.
- License fees & elopement rules: county clerk data compiled and periodically re-verified by Church of Pride. Rules change — always confirm with the clerk.
Cite this report: “The State of LGBTQ Weddings in America,” Church of Pride, 2026 — churchofpride.com/reports/lgbtq-weddings. Media inquiries via the contact page.