TL;DR: Prenups are no longer just for the ultra-wealthy. According to a 2023 Harris Poll, 41 percent of Gen Z and 47 percent of millennials who are engaged or have been married said they entered a prenup, up from roughly 8 percent in the 1990s. Meanwhile, in 2024 there were 2,390,482 marriages and 986,810 divorces, a marriage-to-divorce ratio of 2.42, the highest on record. This is the 2026 state of the prenup, by the numbers.The story of marriage in America in 2026 is one of fewer divorces, later weddings, and a generation of couples treating the prenup as planning rather than paperwork. In 2024, the United States recorded 2,390,482 marriages and 986,810 divorces, producing a marriage-to-divorce ratio of 2.42, the largest the American Community Survey has registered since it began tracking the figure in 2008. Over the same period, the share of millennials and Gen Z adults entering a prenup climbed to multiples of what their parents' generation reported.
This report pulls together the most recent primary data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling Green State University, the CDC's National Vital Statistics System, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Clio Legal Trends Report. It pairs the demographic picture with attorney pricing and the structural shift toward flat-fee, online drafting. Every number here traces back to a named source so you can follow each one to its origin.
The state of marriage and divorce in 2026 The headline number is the ratio. In 2024 the U.S. produced 2.42 marriages for every divorce , per NCFMR Family Profile FP-25-32. That is the highest reading in the ACS series, which goes back to 2008. Marriages are not surging; divorces are receding faster.
The longer-run trend confirms the pattern. The crude divorce rate has fallen from 4.0 per 1,000 people in 2000 to 2.3 per 1,000 in 2024, according to the CDC's marriage and divorce data . The refined divorce rate, a more precise demographic measure that counts divorces per 1,000 married women aged 15 and older rather than per 1,000 of the total population, came in at 14.2 in 2024, down slightly from 14.4 in 2023 per NCFMR FP-25-31 .
Couples are also marrying later. The U.S. Census Bureau reported a median age at first marriage in 2024 of 30.2 for men and 28.6 for women, both record highs. By December 2025, the Census Bureau confirmed that fewer than half of U.S. households were married-couple households for the first time in the series. Marriage has not disappeared, but it has rearranged itself: later in life, more deliberate, and (when it happens) more durable.
Here is the snapshot in one place.
Table 1: U.S. marriage and divorce at a glance, 2024
Metric
2024 figure
Source
Total marriages
2,390,482
NCFMR FP-25-32 (ACS 2024)
Total divorces (women)
986,810
NCFMR FP-25-31
Marriage-to-divorce ratio
2.42
NCFMR FP-25-32
Crude divorce rate
2.3 per 1,000 people
CDC/NCHS
Refined divorce rate
14.2 per 1,000 married women
NCFMR FP-25-31
Median age at first marriage
30.2 (men) / 28.6 (women)
U.S. Census Bureau
Who's getting prenups now The generational gap is wide and growing. A 2023 Harris Poll reported by Axios found that 41 percent of engaged or married Gen Z adults and 47 percent of millennials in the same category had entered into a prenup. The 1990s baseline was roughly 8 percent. Among all married couples today, about one in five report having one, but the figure roughly doubles for couples under 45.
Family law attorneys have described a parallel cultural shift: younger couples raise the topic earlier, often before engagement, and women are more likely to be the partner who first suggests it. For a deeper look at why millennials have been the inflection point, see our piece on how prenups got so popular with millennials .
Table 2: Prenup adoption by generation
Generation
Share who have signed a prenup (engaged or married)
Source
Gen Z
41%
2023 Harris Poll
Millennials
47%
2023 Harris Poll
All married couples (baseline)
~20%
2023 Harris Poll / Axios
1990s baseline
~8%
Harris Poll historical
A note on terminology before going further. The refined divorce rate measures the number of women who divorced in the past 12 months per 1,000 married women aged 15 and older. It is a sharper number than the crude rate because it accounts for who is actually at risk of divorce (married people) rather than the whole population. The marriage-to-divorce ratio is simpler: marriages divided by divorces in a given year. Higher ratio means marriages are outpacing divorces.
Why couples are signing: debt, delayed marriage, and changing attitudes Three forces explain most of the rise. The first is later marriage. When the median bride is nearly 29 and the median groom is 30, both partners typically arrive with established careers, retirement accounts, real estate, or businesses. There is more to think about than there was at 23.
The second is debt. According to Pew Research Center , the share of 25 to 29 year-olds carrying outstanding student loans rose from 28 percent in 1992 to 43 percent in 2022, and the median balance rose from roughly $6,000 to $7,000 to about $16,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. Couples want to designate that debt clearly before merging finances, and a prenup is the cleanest tool to do it.
The third is attitudinal. Many of today's couples grew up watching parents divorce without a plan and saw what that lack of planning cost. They treat the conversation as one of several pre-marriage logistics, somewhere between buying a home and writing wills. For more on the case couples make to each other, see the pros and cons of prenups .
What a prenup costs in 2026 Costs are the question every couple asks first, and the answer depends on who drafts the agreement.
On the traditional side, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage for lawyers of $151,160 as of May 2024, with the top 10 percent earning more than $239,200. The 2025 Clio Legal Trends Report places the national average hourly rate for a U.S. lawyer at $349 in 2025, with family law averaging $312 per hour. Those are inputs into a prenup, not a price tag. A traditional attorney-drafted prenup can run into the thousands of dollars once you add hours of back and forth between attorneys, two independent attorneys, drafting, redlining, and signature meetings.
On the modern side, flat-fee online platforms publish a single transparent price and a defined scope of work. Clio's report also notes that the majority of legal clients now prefer flat-fee billing over the billable hour. The contrast is structural: hourly billing rewards complexity and time; flat-fee billing rewards clarity and a finished product.
State variation: where prenups are most common and most enforceable Geography matters in two directions: where divorces are most common, and how state law shapes what a prenup can do.
By the divorce-rate measure, NCFMR's 2024 data shows Oklahoma at the top of the refined divorce rate at 20.7 per 1,000 married women, followed by Nevada (19.9), Mississippi (19.2), Wyoming (18.7), and Alabama (18.0). Maine had the lowest refined divorce rate at 10.0. State variation is large enough that a national average obscures more than it reveals.
On enforceability, twenty-eight states plus the District of Columbia have adopted some version of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (UPAA, 1983) or its updated successor, the Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act (UPMAA, 2012), the model statute that standardizes how prenups are drafted, executed, and challenged. The remaining states rely on their own statutes or case law governing premarital agreements. Two distinctions drive most of the practical differences. Community-property states (California, Texas, Arizona, and several others) generally treat assets and debts acquired during the marriage as jointly owned. Equitable-distribution states divide marital property based on a court's view of what is fair, and "equitable" doesn't always mean "equal." Some states layer on procedural rules. California, for example, requires the final draft to be delivered to both parties at least seven days before signing under California Family Code §1615(c)(2) (B). California also requires that each party either be represented by independent counsel or expressly waive that right in writing, with an even stricter rule for spousal-support waivers that does not allow waiver of independent counsel.
For a fuller state-by-state breakdown, see our guide to how prenuptial agreements vary across America .
The shift toward modern, collaborative prenups The most important trend in this report is not in the demographic data. It is in how prenups are being built. The traditional model (two firms, hourly rates, weeks of redlining, paper signatures) is being replaced for many couples by guided online drafting with flat-fee pricing, optional attorney review, and digital execution. No PDFs, no hourly rates, no surprises.
The Clio data supports the broader trend in the legal industry: clients prefer flat fees and digital platforms that shift the document work online. Family law has lagged other practice areas in this shift, but the gap is closing quickly. Couples who have already done their wedding planning, home purchase, and joint banking online see no reason their prenup should require office visits and billable hours.
Today you sign the agreement. Future you, ten or twenty years on, lives inside the clarity it created. That is the frame younger couples bring to the conversation, and it is reshaping what the product looks like.
Frequently asked questions How many couples sign prenups in 2026? About 20 percent of married couples overall report having a prenup, but that figure more than doubles for younger generations. According to a 2023 Harris Poll, 41 percent of engaged or married Gen Z adults and 47 percent of millennials say they have entered a prenup, compared with roughly 8 percent of couples who married in the 1990s. The numbers continue to climb among couples marrying today.
What is the average cost of a prenup? Costs vary widely depending on who drafts it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage for lawyers of $151,160 in May 2024, and the 2025 Clio Legal Trends Report puts the average U.S. lawyer hourly rate at $349, with family law at $312. Traditional attorney-drafted prenups can run into the thousands; flat-fee online platforms publish a single transparent price.
Is the divorce rate really 50 percent? No. The widely cited "50 percent of marriages end in divorce" claim no longer holds. The U.S. crude divorce rate has fallen from 4.0 per 1,000 people in 2000 to 2.3 per 1,000 in 2024, according to the CDC, and the refined divorce rate sits at 14.2 per 1,000 married women. Roughly 41 percent of first marriages end in divorce per the CDC, and the marriage-to-divorce ratio is at its highest level in the ACS series.
Are more women initiating prenups today? Yes. Family law attorneys and survey data both describe a generational shift in who raises the topic first. Women in heterosexual marriages are increasingly initiating prenups, maintaining their own bank accounts after marriage, and continuing to work full time. The historical pattern (a prenup proposed by a wealthier man to protect existing assets) has given way to a more mutual conversation between two earners planning together.
Which states have the highest and lowest divorce rates? In 2024, Oklahoma had the highest refined divorce rate at 20.7 women per 1,000 married women, followed by Nevada (19.9), Mississippi (19.2), Wyoming (18.7), and Alabama (18.0). Maine had the lowest refined divorce rate at 10.0, per NCFMR Family Profile FP-25-31 using American Community Survey data. State-level variation is large, and the national average alone is a poor guide to any given couple's situation.
Do prenups make divorce more likely? There is no statistical data showing that prenups cause or increase the likelihood of divorce. Many family law practitioners report the opposite: the conversation required to draft an agreement helps couples align on money, debt, and long-term goals before the wedding. The prenup is a planning tool, and the planning itself often strengthens the relationship that produces it.
Methodology and a soft place to start Figures in this report reflect the most recent data available as of publication. We update this report annually. Sources include the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, the CDC/NCHS National Vital Statistics System, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook, the 2025 Clio Legal Trends Report, the 2023 Harris Poll reported by Axios, Pew Research Center's 2024 young adult milestones study, and Family Profiles FP-25-31 and FP-25-32 from the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University. State-specific rules and UPAA adoption counts vary; couples should consult independent counsel about how their state's law applies.
If the picture in this report describes you (a millennial or Gen Z couple, two earners, perhaps some student debt or a starter house, planning a marriage with clear eyes), First was built for this moment. You can learn more about how a prenup with First works , or book a free consultation when you're ready.
First is not a law firm. The information and tools provided by First on this site are not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
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