Las Vegas has spent decades turning a trip to the county clerk into a headline event, complete with neon chapels, drive-through windows, and singing Elvises, yet the county’s own ledgers tell a more grounded story than the old tourist brochures. In 2025, Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, recorded 69,363 marriages and 70,598 marriage licenses, while Nevada led the US in 2024 with 24.8 marriages per 1,000 residents.
Nearly 70,000 weddings a year, or about 1 in 28 across the US
All marriage licenses in the Las Vegas metropolitan area are issued by the Clark County Office of the County Clerk. In 2025, the county issued 70,598 marriage licenses and recorded 69,363 marriages, an average of about 190 weddings a day across the 365 days of the year (our arithmetic). Of those 70,598 licenses, 69,894, or 99.0% (our arithmetic), were issued at the main Las Vegas Marriage License Bureau, with the remaining 704 split among branch offices in Henderson (459), Laughlin (141), and Mesquite (104).
In 2024, the latest year with complete national figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the United States recorded 2,128,446 marriages across a population of 340,110,988, a national marriage rate of 6.3 per 1,000 residents. That same year, Clark County issued 76,779 marriage licenses and recorded 75,326 marriages, meaning about 3.5% of all marriages in the United States, or roughly 1 in 28, took place in Clark County (our arithmetic).
| Year | Clark County marriage licenses issued | Clark County marriages performed | US total marriages | Clark County share of US marriages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 79,279 | 77,947 | 2,065,905 | 3.8% (1 in 27) |
| 2023 | 74,275 | 72,862 | 2,041,926 | 3.6% (1 in 28) |
| 2024 | 76,779 | 75,326 | 2,128,446 | 3.5% (1 in 28) |
| 2025 | 70,598 | 69,363 | Not yet published | Not yet published |
| 2026 (Jan. to Sept.) | 46,490 | 45,160 | Not yet published | Not yet published |
Why is the number of licenses slightly higher than the number of marriages every year? A Clark County marriage license is valid for one year anywhere in Nevada, and a small fraction of couples who pick up a license either marry in a later calendar year or never file a completed certificate.
How Nevada’s marriage and divorce rates compare with the rest of the US
Because NCHS calculates state marriage rates by counting marriages performed in a state per 1,000 people who live there, destination wedding hubs stand out sharply from the rest of the country. In 2024, Nevada posted a marriage rate of 24.8 marriages per 1,000 residents, nearly four times the national rate of 6.3 (our arithmetic) and nearly double second-place Utah at 13.4, third-place Hawaii at 12.4, fourth-place Washington, D.C., at 10.1, and fifth-place Montana at 9.2.
Even at 24.8 per 1,000, Nevada’s wedding boom is far smaller relative to its resident population than it was a generation ago, as the state’s resident population grew while destination marriage volume cooled from its 1990s peak. In 1990, Nevada recorded 99.0 marriages per 1,000 residents, falling to 85.2 in 1995, 72.2 in 2000, 38.3 in 2010, and a pandemic low of 21.0 in 2020 before rebounding to 26.2 in 2021 and settling near 25 per 1,000 from 2022 through 2024.
| Year | Nevada marriage rate (per 1,000 residents) | US marriage rate (per 1,000 residents) | Nevada divorce rate (per 1,000 residents) | US reporting-states divorce rate (per 1,000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 99.0 | Not in 2000 to 2024 series | 11.4 | Not in 2000 to 2024 series |
| 2000 | 72.2 | 8.2 | 9.9 | 4.0 |
| 2010 | 38.3 | 6.8 | 5.9 | 3.6 |
| 2020 | 21.0 | 5.1 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
| 2022 | 25.9 | 6.2 | 4.2 | 2.4 |
| 2023 | 25.9 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 2.4 |
| 2024 | 24.8 | 6.3 | 3.8 | 2.3 |
Nevada also leads the reporting states in divorces per resident, though divorce rates have dropped steeply both in Nevada and nationwide. In 2024, Nevada recorded 3.8 divorces per 1,000 residents, down from 11.4 in 1990 and 9.9 in 2000, compared with the 2024 national reporting-area divorce rate of 2.3 per 1,000 across the 45 reporting states and Washington, D.C. (which totalled 662,950 divorces and annulments). Arkansas (3.3) and Oklahoma (3.3) tied for second behind Nevada in 2024 state divorce rates, followed by Idaho (3.2) and Wyoming (3.2).
Desert weather and lucky numbers drive the calendar
Across much of the United States, summer and early autumn dominate the wedding calendar, but triple-digit desert heat reshapes the schedule in Las Vegas. In Clark County in 2025, October was the busiest month of the year with 7,554 marriages (an average of 243 per day) and 7,481 licenses issued, followed closely by May with 7,529 marriages (242 per day) and April with 6,547 marriages (218 per day). By contrast, peak summer and winter were the slowest stretches of 2025: June saw 5,379 marriages (179 per day), July saw 5,008 (161 per day), December saw 4,954 (159 per day), and January was the quietest month at 4,591 marriages (148 per day). October also topped the calendar in 2024 with 8,179 marriages (263 per day), ahead of April at 7,748 (258 per day) and May at 6,806 (219 per day).
Valentine’s Day and memorable calendar dates still produce noticeable spikes in midwinter. February 2025 recorded 5,419 marriages, or 193 per day, up from 4,591 marriages, or 148 per day, in January 2025, a 30.4% jump in the printed daily average (our arithmetic). When a palindrome date lands in February, the jump is much larger: in February 2022, which included Tuesday, February 22, 2022 (2/22/22), Clark County recorded 7,714 marriages (275 per day, the highest daily average of any month in 2022) and issued 7,605 licenses.
What a Las Vegas marriage license and ceremony cost
Speed and convenience remain the foundation of the local wedding trade. The Las Vegas Marriage License Bureau at 201 E. Clark Avenue stays open from 8 a.m. to midnight, 365 days a year, including holidays. Both partners must appear in person with government-issued photo identification and be at least 18 years old; Nevada requires no blood test and no waiting period.
As of 2026, a Clark County marriage license costs $102.00. Under Nevada law, $50 of each marriage license fee goes to domestic violence shelters and services, generating $3,529,900.00 from the 70,598 licenses issued in 2025 (our arithmetic). Couples who want a municipal ceremony can wed at the Civil Marriage Commissioner’s Office for $75.00, while an official certified copy of a marriage certificate costs $20.00 and a vow renewal certificate costs $21.00. Most couples still choose private chapels, hotel venues, or independent officiants: in 2025, the Civil Marriage Commissioner’s Office performed 4,855 civil ceremonies, or 7.0% of the county’s 69,363 marriages (our arithmetic), while selling 196,403 certified marriage certificate copies.
The short version
Clark County, Nevada, recorded 69,363 marriages and 70,598 marriage licenses in 2025, down slightly from 75,326 marriages in 2024, when the county accounted for about 1 in 28 marriages across the United States (our arithmetic). Nevada’s 2024 marriage rate of 24.8 per 1,000 residents remains the highest in the nation at nearly four times the 6.3 US rate, with October and May leading the Las Vegas wedding calendar.
Last checked: October 27, 2026, against CDC National Center for Health Statistics provisional marriage and divorce tables through 2024 and Clark County, Nevada, Office of the County Clerk marriage statistics and fee schedules through September 2026. This article was machine-checked against the sources above and has not been expert-reviewed. Spotted an error or a newer public figure? Please tell us on our contact page with the article link and we will review it.
Sources
- S1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Provisional Number of Marriages and Marriage Rate: United States, 2000 to 2024, and Provisional Number of Divorces and Annulments and Rate: United States, 2000 to 2024. National Vital Statistics System. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/marriage-divorce/national-marriage-divorce-rates-00-24.pdf Accessed Oct 27, 2026.
- S2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Marriage Rates by State: 1990, 1995, and 2000 to 2024. National Vital Statistics System. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/marriage-divorce/state-marriage-rates-90-95-00-24.pdf Accessed Oct 27, 2026.
- S3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Divorce Rates by State: 1990, 1995, and 2000 to 2024. National Vital Statistics System. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/marriage-divorce/state-divorce-rates-90-95-00-24.pdf Accessed Oct 27, 2026.
- S4 Clark County, Nevada, Office of the County Clerk. Clerk Stats: Marriages and Licenses (2022 through September 2026). https://clerk.clarkcountynv.gov/clerkstats/ Accessed Oct 27, 2026.
- S5 Clark County, Nevada, Office of the County Clerk. 2026 Executive Summary: Marriage Licenses Issued, Marriage Ceremonies Performed, and Domestic Violence Fee Collections (2025 and 2026 YTD). https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/adobe/assets/urn:aaid:aem:e1505c1e-859c-4a71-a4e4-b6594e9dfaa4/original/as/2025-Clerk-YTD-PM.pdf Accessed Oct 27, 2026.
- S6 Clark County, Nevada, Office of the County Clerk. How to Get Married in Las Vegas and County Clerk Fees. https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/elected_officials/county_clerk/how-to-get-married and https://www.clarkcountynv.gov/government/elected_officials/county_clerk/fees Accessed Oct 27, 2026.