What does this measure?

The percentage of households composed of married couples (with and without children), singles, and other variations.

Why is this important?

Changes in the types of households in a community can provide insight into the changing structure of families and the proportions of singles living alone.

How is Dutchess County performing?

There has been little change in the composition of household types in Dutchess County between 2000 and 2011-15. Married couples without children continued to be the most common type of household, making up 30% of total households, similar to the region and state (excluding NYC) figures (29%) and above the nation (27%). Married couples with children and people living alone were the next most frequent types, at 22% and 27%. Single individuals living with children made up 8% of households.

Notes about the data

Multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.