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State of Our Counties
Marriage and family life in Collin and Grayson County, in three parts: the need, the cost, and the hope. The full tables and sources are at the bottom for anyone who wants them.
Where we serve
Two counties, just north of Dallas
From Plano and McKinney to Sherman, Denison and the Red River, Collin and Grayson County are home to more than 1.5 million people.
Populations shown on the map are 2026 estimates [SOURCE]. The figures further down come from the Census Bureau's 2020–2024 survey, which is why they are lower.
277,515
married-couple households
About 250,000 in Collin County and 28,000 in Grayson.
321,841
children under 18
Growing up across the two counties.
1 in 3
Grayson County children not living with married parents
Nearly a third (31%). In Collin it is about 1 in 5 (19%).
1 in 8
Grayson County adults currently divorced
12.9% — above Texas (10%). About 1 in 11 in Collin (8.8%).
Three things to know
The short version
The needTwo counties, different needsCollin is the more-married county; Grayson is the more-divorced one, and nearly a third of its children don't live with married parents.Read more
The costAbout $100 million a yearOur estimate of what family breakdown costs state and local taxpayers here — before counting what it costs the families themselves.Read more
The hopeIt has changed beforeWhen Texas invested in premarital education, divorce went down. Couples still get a license discount for taking a course.Read more
1 · The need
Two counties, different needs
Collin County is more married than Texas as a whole; Grayson County is more divorced. That difference is why we serve both counties — with different emphases. In Collin, the biggest opening is preparing the next generation of couples. In Grayson, it is walking with marriages and families that are hurting.
A premarital pipeline
About 269,000 Collin County adults have never married — future engaged couples, future premarital classes.
2 · The cost
What divorce costs a couple — and a community
No study measures these costs county by county, so these come from Texas and national research.
To the couple · legal fees
Up to $30,000+
From about $1,500 for an uncontested Texas divorce to $15,000–30,000 or more when it is contested and children are involved.
Divorce.law, 2026
To the couple · savings
Three-quarters
Divorce cut a person's wealth by about 77% in a 15-year study — and the slide starts years before the divorce is final.
Zagorsky, Ohio State
To our taxpayers
~$100 million
A year, in state and local costs tied to family breakdown in Collin and Grayson County. Our estimate, scaled from a statewide study.
Scafidi, 2008, scaled locally
How we estimate the local cost
- Texas state and local taxpayer cost of family breakdown (Scafidi, 2008)$2.96 billion
- In today's dollars (prices are about 1.5× higher than in 2008)≈ $4.4 billion
- Our two counties are 4.3% of Texans≈ $190 million
- We have less family breakdown than Texas overall, so we scale down by about 40%× 0.6
- Estimated state and local cost here, each year$100–120 million
A back-of-the-envelope estimate, not a published figure. The 2008 study is a floor: it counts only poverty-related programs.
3 · The hope
It has changed before — and can again
Every single percentage point that we drop the divorce rate, the lives of more than a million children are positively impacted.
Texas has done it
During the years Texas funded premarital education well, its divorce rate fell about 1.5%. Nationally, these state efforts were credited with nearly 15,000 fewer divorces in a single year — about $33,000 saved for every divorce avoided.
Hawkins & Clyde, Institute for Family Studies, 2019
A reason for couples to prepare
Through Twogether in Texas, couples who finish an eight-hour premarital course save $60 on their marriage license and skip the 72-hour wait. Every church that offers a qualifying course gives couples a reason to take it.
Twogether in Texas
Divorce has fallen for four decades
Nationally, 14.2 divorces per 1,000 married women in 2024, down from about 22.6 around 1980. "Half of all marriages end in divorce" is a myth.
The early years matter most
About 40% of divorces happen in the first ten years — which is why premarital and newlywed ministry carry so much weight.
What could your gift do?
Choose an amount and see how many couples it reaches — and what it could save families and our community.
For the curious
Full data & sources
Every number above, in full. Open any section.
Marital status, adults 15 and older
| Collin | Grayson | Texas | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults 15 and older | 929,725 | 115,096 | 23,974,464 | 274,596,960 |
| Never married | 28.9% | 27.4% | 34.1% | 34.4% |
| Now married | 58.5% | 53.1% | 51.0% | 49.5% |
| Spouse present | 55.0% | 49.7% | 46.0% | 45.2% |
| Separated | 1.0% | 1.5% | 2.0% | 1.7% |
| Widowed | 3.7% | 6.6% | 4.9% | 5.6% |
| Divorced | 8.8% | 12.9% | 10.0% | 10.6% |
2024 one-year estimates agree: Collin 57.8% married and 8.3% divorced; Grayson 50.9% married and 13.7% divorced.
Households
| Collin | Grayson | Texas | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total population | 1,163,337 | 143,337 | 30,188,424 | 334,922,500 |
| Households | 416,646 | 55,248 | 10,992,816 | 129,227,496 |
| Married-couple households | 249,752 (59.9%) | 27,763 (50.3%) | 48.9% | 46.9% |
| With children under 18 | 126,979 | 10,258 | — | — |
| Single-mother families | 37,472 | 7,229 | — | — |
| Single-father families | 15,638 | 2,894 | — | — |
Where children under 18 live
| Collin | Grayson | Texas | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Living with married parents | 81.4% | 68.9% | 67.2% | 66.7% |
| In a cohabiting-couple household | 4.0% | 10.3% | 7.4% | 8.6% |
| In a single-parent household | 14.6% | 20.8% | 25.3% | 24.7% |
Poverty by family structure
| Collin | Grayson | Texas | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Married-couple families | 3.1% | 4.1% | 5.9% | 4.6% |
| Single-mother families | 13.9% | 19.4% | 26.2% | 23.4% |
| Single-father families | 7.5% | 19.1% | 13.1% | 12.3% |
Single-mother families are about 4.5 times as likely to be in poverty as married-couple families here. This is a correlation, not a verdict: many single parents are raising children heroically, and poverty can be a cause of family breakdown as well as a result.
Two-county totals
1,306,674
people
1,044,821
adults 15 and older
604,958
married adults
277,515
married-couple households
137,237
of those raising children
63,233
single-parent families
97,021
adults currently divorced
10,947
adults currently separated
What these numbers can and cannot say
- The Census counts people's current marital status, not weddings or divorces in a given year.
- Family structure and poverty travel together, but research cannot fully separate cause from effect.
- The taxpayer figures start from a 2008 study and are scaled to our counties by our own arithmetic.
- Still to add: divorces filed each year in each county (Texas courts' Court Activity Database) and the Census count of people divorced in the past year (table B12503).
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates, tables B12001, B11001, B11003, B09005, B17010; 2024 1-year estimates for comparison.
- Scafidi, B. (2008). The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing. Institute for American Values and Georgia Family Council.
- Hawkins, A. J., & Clyde, T. L. (2019). Do premarital education promotion policies work? Institute for Family Studies.
- Zagorsky, J. (2006). Divorce drops a person's wealth by 77 percent. Ohio State University.
- Pew Research Center (2025). 8 facts about divorce, marriage and remarriage in the United States.
- National Center for Family & Marriage Research (2025). Refined divorce rate in the U.S., 2024.
- Twogether in Texas, frequently asked questions.
- Divorce.law (2026). How much does a divorce cost in Texas?
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