So, did you know there are three different ways states define “child marriage,” and that’s why sources disagree:

States with NO minimum age at all.

States with a full ban (18, no exceptions)

States with a minimum age + exceptions

It is now 2026, and child marriage is still legal in 33–34 U.S. states. Only 17 states and D.C. have fully banned it with no exceptions. Three states — California, Mississippi, and New Mexico — still have no minimum age at all, meaning a child of any age can legally be married with the right combination of parental or judicial approval. Between 2000 and 2021, over 315,000 minors were legally married in the U.S., and 86% of those marriages were between a minor girl and an adult man. Despite public assumptions, the U.S. still has one of the weakest child‑marriage protections in the developed world.

States that have fully banned child marriage (18, no exceptions)

17 states + D.C.

• Delaware
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Minnesota
• Rhode Island
• New York
• Massachusetts
• Vermont
• Connecticut
• Michigan
• Washington
• Virginia
• New Hampshire
• Maine
• Oregon
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• District of Columbia

These are the only places where child marriage is truly abolished.

It’s time for America to evolve from the misogynistic values of the 1600s to a future where no child’s life is shaped by outdated laws that were never meant to protect them. ~ Nativergrl77

(Sources: World Population Review, LegalClarity, FreedomUnited, Wikipedia)

So, as of June 2020, in the 40 states that have set a marriage age by statute, the lower minimum marriage age when all exceptions are taken into account, are:

• 2 states have a minimum age of 14: Alaska and North Carolina
• 3 states have a minimum age of 15.
• 21 states have a minimum age of 16.
• 10 states have a minimum age of 17.
• 4 states have a minimum age of 18.

The Koski/Heymann study found prevalence of child marriage varied from more than 10 per 1,000 in West Virginia, Hawaii and North Dakota to less than four per 1,000 in Maine, Rhode Island and Wyoming.^[29]

• In Texas from 2000 to 2014, almost 40,000 children were married.^[30][31]
• In Florida, 16,400 children, some as young as 13, were married from 2000–2017, which is the second highest incidence of child marriage after Texas.^[15]
• In Alabama there were over 8,600 child marriages from 2000 to 2015, the fourth highest amount of any state. However, child marriage in Alabama showed a large decline in that time. In 2000, almost 1,200 children married, but by 2014 it dropped to 190.^[31]
• In Virginia between 2004 and 2013, nearly 4,500 children were married according to the Tahirih Justice Center.^[32]
• In Ohio from 2000 to 2015 there were 4,443 girls married aged 17 and younger, including 43 aged 15 and under.^[33]
• In New York, more than 3,800 children were married between 2000 and 2010.^[34]

The Koski/Heymann also found that only 20% of married children were living with their spouses; the majority of the rest were living with their parents.^[29]

Source: wiki … yes please, definitely correct wiki if the information is foul