NYCEDC

Jul
18

20 Plays
July 2011 - Marriage Equality and the Wedding IndustryNYCEDC

July 2011 Economic Snapshot: Marriage Equality and the Wedding Industry in NYC

Last month, New York passed historic legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry in the state. This legislation could impact a significant number of City residents: NYC has the largest number of same-sex unmarried partnership households of any U.S. city (about 22,000), and more than twice as many as in Los Angeles, the second largest city (about 9,400).

In this month’s Economic Snapshot, we examined the impact of marriage equality on the NYC wedding industry. Based on data from other states, we estimated that about half of same-sex couples living together in NYC would marry in the next three years—about 11,000 couples. As one of the top tourist destinations in the country, New York City is also expected to attract an additional 30,000 couples from other states during the same time period.

From these figures, we estimated that between July 2011 and July 2014, there will be an additional $423 million in direct spending and a total economic impact of nearly $700 million in the City as a result of the legislation.

Other interesting wedding finds in the Snapshot:

In 2010, there were about 61,000 weddings in NYC.
About 70,000 marriage licenses are issued per year by the City Clerk’s office.
The average NYC wedding costs $29,000, which is more than 20% higher the national average of $24,000.

Download the full Economic Snapshot (PDF) to read more fascinating details about the wedding industry in New York City. And listen to the podcast above as NYCEDC Chief Economist Francesco Brindisi and Senior Project Manager Eileen Tumalad discuss additional insights on the economic impact of marriage equality.

Listen to previous podcasts. Explore our Economic Snapshot Archive.