Nearly 1 in 5 marriages in the District is interracial, a new Pew Research Center study has found. The figure outpaces neighbors Virginia and Maryland and is higher than the national average.
The District ranks 10th in the nation for its occurance of interracial marriages with 19.3 percent of marriages or 11,917 married couples. The national average is 15 percent.
Interracial couples in Maryland and Virginia fall below the average, accounting for 11.8 percent of Maryland marriages and 13.8 percent of Virginia marriages.
Hawaii clocks in with the highest rate (by far) at 42.4 percent of marriages.
Here’s the rest of the top 10:
|
Total ‘married out’ couples |
Percentage of all marriages |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hawaii | 25,726 | 42.4 |
| 2. Oklahoma | 86,434 | 26.3 |
| 3. Nevada | 57,065 | 25.6 |
| 4. New Mexico | 37,878 | 25.4 |
| 5. Alaska | 15,540 | 23.9 |
| 6. California | 632,242 | 23.2 |
| 7. Arizona | 116,034 | 22 |
| 8. Washington | 139,471 | 21.2 |
| 9. Oregon | 82,059 | 20.4 |
| 10. District | 11,917 | 19.3 |
