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For the first time since the U.S. began tallying marriages, more Americans of prime marrying age have stayed single rather than tied the knot, the culmination of a tectonic shift in the role of marriage and relationships that began in the 1960s.

High divorce rates, rising co-habitation and a tendency to delay marriage are main factors.

Marriage rates among young adults have been dropping for decades. But data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau show that for the first time the proportion of people between the ages of 25 and 34 who have never been married exceeded those who were married in 2009 -- 46.3% versus 44.9%, according to an analysis by Mark Mather, a demographer at the Population Reference Bureau, a non-profit research organization in Washington.

The remainder is a mix of those who have lost spouses and divorcees, who if combined with the unmarried group tilt the balance even further.

With many Americans facing stagnant paychecks and a 9.6% unemployment rate, many more young adults are simply opting to put off marriage until they are better set financially, or foregoing matrimony altogether.

The long-term slide in marriage rates has pushed the proportion of married adults of all ages to 52% in 2009, according to the Census, the lowest share in history. In 1960, 72.2% of adults over 18 were married.

The U.S. began tracking marriage statistics in 1880.

The latest figures on marriage come from the Census' annual American Community Survey, the government's deepest and broadest look at economic, social and demographic trends. The data include estimates on income, housing, education and living standards for all metropolitan areas with populations of 65,000 or more. East Stroudsburg, Pa., for example, had the longest average commute at 38.1 minutes in 2009 -- in part because many workers there commute to the New York City area.

Key West, Fla., had the most-stretched homeowners: Some 61.5% of mortgage holders were spending more than 30% of their income on housing. Ithaca, N.Y., home of Cornell University, was the most highly educated, with 27.2% of its population holding an advanced degree.

The shift in marriage patterns cuts across cities and regions, as well as races and gender. In many big cities, never-married young adults are a strong majority among their peers. In San Francisco, 82% of adults between 25 and 34 had never been married in 2009, the largest share among big U.S. cities. Atlanta, New York and Minneapolis were all among the top 20 U.S. cities with the largest share of never-married young adults, with shares greater than 75%.

With a new company and a busy work schedule, Shauna Mei is in no hurry to get married. Ms. Mei, 27 years old, lives in New York and runs a shopping website. She shares an apartment with her boyfriend, but says she feels no pressure from friends or society to formalize the union with matrimony. 'It's like a rule of thumb: You have to live with them before you decide,' she says. 'Marriage is not something that has to happen.'

The change in marriage habits has been most pronounced among those with less education. Between 2000 and 2010, the share of young adults who are married dropped 10 percentage points to 44% among those who didn't attend college, according to Census data.

Marriage among the same age group who hold bachelor's or more advanced degrees, meanwhile, fell 4 percentage points over that time, to 52%.

This is also a departure from past trends. In the past, college graduates were much more likely to postpone matrimony to focus on their career or further education. Now, a higher proportion of those without four-year degrees are postponing marriage.

A slowdown in marriage rates doesn't mean the end of cohabiting relationships. As marriage rates have fallen, the number of adults living together has skyrocketed, according to Mr. Mather's analysis. Men and women are living together as an alternative or a first step towards matrimony. While marriage has fallen among younger people, the probability of getting married at some point in life still remains at about 90%.

For Joel Gutierrez, 31, early adulthood was a time to date freely and to get his finances in order. Mr. Gutierrez, who lives in San Mateo, Calif., and manages clinical trials for a biotechnology firm, spent much of his 20s going to bars and on dates, and racking up debts. He now has a serious girlfriend, and is certain he will be married eventually. 'I didn't feel like I had everything together when I was still trying to pay off my debt going through my 20s,' he says. 'In that sense I felt like I was still a kid.'