Share in the same house a year ago and Share widowed
Where Share in the same house a year ago is higher, Share widowed tends to be higher. The link is weak: +0.31 across 3,083 counties, on a scale from −1 (opposite) to +1 (in step). That figure compares places with the same population density, income and education, so those differences can't explain it. It holds inside states too. Measured separately within each of 40 states, the middle value of the link is +0.40.
Holds after adjusting
Every place, plotted
One dot for each place reporting both measures. Hover over or tap a dot to see its name and values. The thin line is the straight line that best fits the dots. The bold line, shown for counties, is the link after adjusting for density, income and education. A dot far from the lines is a place that does not follow the pattern.
Loading every place…
What each measure is
Share in the same house a year ago
The percentage of residents who lived in the same home a year earlier. The middle county is 88%, so the low end is the interesting one: college towns, military bases and resort areas turn over fastest. Read it as the opposite of moving around, not as good or bad. A place nobody wants to leave and a place nobody can afford to leave look the same here.
Census ACS 5-year · ACS table B07001_017, divided by total population
Share widowed
The percentage of people aged 15 and over whose spouse has died. It mostly follows how old the population is, so it is close to a second measure of a county's age.
Census ACS 5-year · ACS table B12001_009…B12001_018 (2 cells), divided by population aged 15 and over
Highest and lowest
Where each measure is highest and lowest among the places reporting both (2023), with the other measure beside it. This is shown for every size of place where both are published. Metro-area values are added up from their counties. A measure that cannot be added up across counties, such as a middle value (median), has no metro figure. Counts are shown per 1,000 residents, since raw totals would only list the largest places. Cities and towns and ZIP codes are shown where the Census survey or the CDC publishes them; most other sources stop at the county. They are shown for places of 5,000 residents or more, and only where the survey’s margin of error is small enough for the figure to be usable. The CDC publishes its health estimates for cities in a version adjusted for age, so places with older or younger people can be compared fairly, but not for ZIP codes.
Counties
By share in the same house a year ago
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Taliaferro County, GA | 99.9% | 12.6% |
| Terrell County, TX | 99.3% | 23.3% |
| Baker County, GA | 98.5% | 6.91% |
| Sherman County, TX | 97.9% | 5.42% |
| Haakon County, SD | 97.9% | 6.2% |
| Lowest | ||
| Madison County, ID | 61% | 1.46% |
| Albany County, WY | 67.9% | 3.32% |
| Clay County, SD | 67.9% | 3.7% |
| Pulaski County, MO | 68.8% | 3.6% |
| Geary County, KS | 69% | 3.7% |
By share widowed
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Terrell County, TX | 99.3% | 23.3% |
| Comanche County, KS | 90.9% | 17.8% |
| Hooker County, NE | 73.6% | 16.7% |
| De Baca County, NM | 74.4% | 15.2% |
| Pulaski County, GA | 85.4% | 15.1% |
| Lowest | ||
| King County, TX | 74.1% | 0% |
| Eureka County, NV | 83.9% | 0% |
| Madison County, ID | 61% | 1.46% |
| Summit County, CO | 84.1% | 1.8% |
| Gunnison County, CO | 82.8% | 2.4% |
States
By share in the same house a year ago
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| New Jersey | 89.2% | 5.55% |
| New York | 89% | 5.59% |
| West Virginia | 88.2% | 7.93% |
| Rhode Island | 88.1% | 5.73% |
| New Hampshire | 88% | 5.51% |
| Lowest | ||
| District of Columbia | 79.5% | 3.41% |
| North Dakota | 82.6% | 5.5% |
| Colorado | 82.6% | 4.11% |
| Wyoming | 83.4% | 5.64% |
| Idaho | 83.5% | 4.93% |
By share widowed
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| West Virginia | 88.2% | 7.93% |
| Mississippi | 87.8% | 7.06% |
| Alabama | 86.8% | 6.88% |
| Arkansas | 85.9% | 6.86% |
| Kentucky | 86.2% | 6.63% |
| Lowest | ||
| District of Columbia | 79.5% | 3.41% |
| Utah | 84.4% | 3.51% |
| Alaska | 84.1% | 4.09% |
| Colorado | 82.6% | 4.11% |
| Washington | 84% | 4.61% |
Metro areas
By share in the same house a year ago
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Gallup, NM | 93.9% | 6.86% |
| Española, NM | 93.7% | 6.5% |
| Hereford, TX | 93.5% | 7.51% |
| North Wilkesboro, NC | 93.5% | 8.88% |
| Washington, NC | 93.3% | 7.91% |
| Lowest | ||
| Rexburg, ID | 66.2% | 2.1% |
| Laramie, WY | 67.9% | 3.32% |
| Vermillion, SD | 67.9% | 3.7% |
| Fort Leonard Wood, MO | 68.8% | 3.6% |
| Pullman, WA | 71.6% | 2.97% |
By share widowed
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Mountain Home, AR | 85.5% | 11.2% |
| Martinsville, VA | 90.7% | 10.8% |
| Middlesborough, KY | 89.4% | 10.6% |
| Wildwood-The Villages, FL | 86.1% | 10.5% |
| Selma, AL | 86.9% | 10.4% |
| Lowest | ||
| Breckenridge, CO | 84.1% | 1.8% |
| Rexburg, ID | 66.2% | 2.1% |
| Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT | 80.5% | 2.56% |
| Heber, UT | 85% | 2.88% |
| Logan, UT-ID | 81% | 2.92% |
Cities and towns
By share in the same house a year ago
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Hewlett CDP, NY | 98.7% | 5.05% |
| Zuni Pueblo CDP, NM | 98.6% | 9.3% |
| East Rancho Dominguez CDP, CA | 98.2% | 2.92% |
| Uniontown CDP, OH | 98% | 7.57% |
| Village Green-Green Ridge CDP, PA | 97.3% | 5.62% |
| Lowest | ||
| Rochester Institute of Technology CDP, NY | 16.7% | 0% |
| University of California-Santa Barbara CDP, CA | 26.8% | 0% |
| Lackland AFB CDP, TX | 33.2% | 0% |
| Durham CDP, NH | 37% | 1.12% |
| Fort Rucker CDP, AL | 41.5% | 0% |
By share widowed
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| Leisure World CDP, MD | 87.9% | 24.3% |
| Holiday City-Berkeley CDP, NJ | 92.1% | 23.8% |
| Crestwood Village CDP, NJ | 89.6% | 23.2% |
| South Pasadena city, FL | 82.3% | 22.3% |
| The Meadows CDP, FL | 84.4% | 21% |
| Lowest | ||
| University of California-Santa Barbara CDP, CA | 26.8% | 0% |
| Lemoore Station CDP, CA | 60.6% | 0% |
| Fort Irwin CDP, CA | 54.6% | 0% |
| Camp Pendleton South CDP, CA | 54.5% | 0% |
| Fort Rucker CDP, AL | 41.5% | 0% |
ZIP codes
By share in the same house a year ago
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| ZIP 53033 (Richfield village, WI) | 99% | 3.76% |
| ZIP 31028 (Centerville city, GA) | 98.8% | 4.09% |
| ZIP 51108 (Plymouth County, IA) | 98.1% | 4.71% |
| ZIP 93543 (Los Angeles County, CA) | 98.1% | 3.44% |
| ZIP 78616 (Caldwell County, TX) | 98% | 4.39% |
| Lowest | ||
| ZIP 55455 (Minneapolis city, MN) | 11.5% | 0% |
| ZIP 01003 (Amherst Town city, MA) | 13% | 0% |
| ZIP 13244 (Syracuse city, NY) | 14.6% | 0% |
| ZIP 43210 (Columbus city, OH) | 18.3% | 0% |
| ZIP 32612 (Gainesville city, FL) | 23.4% | 0% |
By share widowed
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest | ||
| ZIP 92637 (Laguna Woods city, CA) | 90.9% | 20.5% |
| ZIP 85351 (Sun City CDP, AZ) | 87.7% | 18.6% |
| ZIP 08759 (Ocean County, NJ) | 88.4% | 18.5% |
| ZIP 07444 (Pompton Plains CDP, NJ) | 96.6% | 17.9% |
| ZIP 33484 (Palm Beach County, FL) | 83.4% | 17.3% |
| Lowest | ||
| ZIP 06269 (Storrs CDP, CT) | 67.5% | 0% |
| ZIP 01003 (Amherst Town city, MA) | 13% | 0% |
| ZIP 99703 (Fairbanks city, AK) | 59.3% | 0% |
| ZIP 94720 (Berkeley city, CA) | 28.9% | 0% |
| ZIP 93106 (University of California-Santa Barbara CDP, CA) | 24% | 0% |
Counties furthest from the pattern
Compared with the straight line that best fits all 3,096 counties: the five with far more share widowed than their share in the same house a year ago would suggest, and the five with far less.
| Share in the same house a year ago | Share widowed | |
|---|---|---|
| Above the line | ||
| Terrell County, TX | 99.3% | 23.3% |
| Hooker County, NE | 73.6% | 16.7% |
| De Baca County, NM | 74.4% | 15.2% |
| Comanche County, KS | 90.9% | 17.8% |
| Pulaski County, GA | 85.4% | 15.1% |
| Below the line | ||
| Eureka County, NV | 83.9% | 0% |
| King County, TX | 74.1% | 0% |
| San Miguel County, CO | 91.1% | 2.98% |
| Summit County, CO | 84.1% | 1.8% |
| Winkler County, TX | 92.9% | 3.39% |
Two series, one county
Both measures over time for a county you pick. The two charts are stacked, so they share only the years along the bottom. You can pick from the thirty largest counties reporting both. This panel covers 2010–2024, and a measure published only once shows as a single dot.
Loading…
Every version of the link
Each row measures the same link, from −1 to +1, in a different way. If the rows mostly agree, the link does not depend on one choice of method.
| Before adjusting for anything | +0.358 | 3,083 counties reporting both |
| After adjusting for density, income and education | +0.314 | the part of the link that is not just how urban, rich and educated a place is |
| Also adjusting for population size | +0.291 | size taken out as well as density |
| Also comparing only within each state | +0.279 | each county is compared only with others in its own state, so this is no longer a comparison between states |
| Giving bigger counties more weight | +0.446 | the adjusted link for the average resident rather than the average county. With this weighting, the data counts for about 287 equally weighted counties |
| Middle value inside single states | +0.399 | the link worked out inside each of 40 states with at least 20 counties reporting |
| Using ranks, after adjusting | +0.275 | uses each county’s rank, not its value, so a few extreme counties cannot create the link |
How much to believe it
Could it be chance?
The p-value is the chance of seeing a link this strong if there were really none. A value of 0.05 or less means the link is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 3.1e-16 means 0.00000000000000031, and the bigger the number after “e-”, the smaller the value. Treating every county as a separate case gives p = 1.1e-71. But counties in the same state tend to resemble each other, so the better figure allows for that: p = 1.8e-12. The site tested 20,910 pairs, and testing so many turns up some flukes. The q-value allows for that too. For this pair it is 7.7e-71.
Do nearby places look alike?
Moran’s I measures how much nearby places look alike: 0 means no map pattern, and higher means neighbours are more similar. For the part of each county that the adjustment leaves unexplained, it is +0.18 (p = 0.001). That unexplained part still clusters on the map. So some regional factor shared by both measures is not accounted for.
Did they change together?
The figures above compare counties at one moment. This asks a different question: where share in the same house a year ago rose most, did share widowedmove too? Each county’s change is compared with the average change in its own state. That takes out ups and downs that hit a whole region at once. Each change is the gap between two estimates that both contain some error. That error pulls these links towards zero, so a weak one is weak partly for that reason. The q column shows whether a link could be a fluke, allowing for the many pairs tested: 0.05 or less means it is unlikely to be chance.
| Period | Counties | Change together | Within states | q |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014–2019 the main test: each Census survey figure averages five years, and these two do not overlap; before the pandemic | 3,102 | +0.04 | +0.04 | — |
| 2019–2023 a repeat check: its two five-year survey figures both include 2019, and it covers the COVID years | 3,084 | +0.02 | +0.02 | — |
Both come from the American Community Survey, which asks a sample of households. Random error in a county's sample pushes both changes at once. So part of any agreement here is that shared error. It is shown, but not counted as a finding. How change is measured.
Related pairs
- Share aged 65 and over and Share widowed — +0.55
- Median age and Share widowed — +0.53
- Homeownership rate and Share in the same house a year ago — +0.42
- Median age and Share in the same house a year ago — +0.42
- Share in the same house a year ago and Departures per 100 people staying — -0.40
- Share widowed and Congregations per 10,000 people — +0.37
- Share with a bachelor's degree or higher and Share in the same house a year ago — -0.34
- Median household income and Share widowed — -0.34
Association only. Nothing here shows that either measure changes the other. This describes counties, not the people in them. Two measures going together across places does not mean the same people have both. How the US county data works · Explore Share in the same house a year ago and Share widowed