9 to 5

Want to Marry to a Farmer? Buy a Farm

A new study tracked which professions were most likely to marry each other, and it’s good news for agricultural workers.

If online dating hasn’t been working out, maybe it’s time for become a farmer.

According to Priceonomics’ Dan Kopf, who crunched Census data on 40 million couples aged 23 to 65, certain fields have a higher chance of causing a spark between co-workers or colleagues—at least for opposite sex couples (same-sex Census data has yet to be released).

Among a set of 25 professions ranging from architects and engineers to maintenance and law enforcement, Kopf found that agricultural workers—including fishing and forestry—had the highest percent of likelihood to marry each other at 27%. This was followed closely by physicians and surgeons (25%) and farmers (20%).

Some of the least likely to marry someone in the same field were law enforcement and those in finance—both 8%—construction and maintenance (2%) and mining (1%).

Kopf explains that one reasoning behind the close bond between agricultural workers and farmers is their predominance in rural areas, where there are fewer options in terms of occupations. Another reason, such as those in healthcare and law, may be unusually drawn to each other due to “mission driven and/or time consuming nature of these professions,” according to Kopf. Schedules and interests seem to drive their compatibility.

The balance of genders in particular careers also seems to have the biggest effect on the results.

Professions at the top of the list tend to have a very balanced representation of both sexes while those at the bottom—the ones with a less likelihood to marry—are dominated more by one particular gender, like men in construction and women in healthcare support.

However, as the study exhibits, those in “education” is dominated by 77% females, but still ranks within the top five. Over a third of males in education have spouses who are also teachers or librarians. Kopf quips that it’s “because teachers are unusually good with the in-laws from their ample experience with charming parents.”

Still, those who do work in professions dominated by the opposite sex have a higher chance of marrying within their own industry. For instance, almost 40 percent of females working in construction were married to men who also worked in that industry, Kopf explains.

Overall, it looks like “Farming, Fishing, and Forestry” has the highest marriage rate. So if you’re looking for a new way to find love then agriculture might be a pretty successful way to go about it.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Justin Jones

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.