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This story has been updated.

There have been more than 15,000 marriages every year in Connecticut for the past six years, reaching as high as 20,000 in 2016 and dipping to about 15,000 in pandemic-interrupted 2020.

This means that there have been from four to five marriages for every 1,000 residents in the state over the years, according to compiled data by the Connecticut Department of Health from 2016 to 2021, the most recent data available.

But in which town do marriages take place most often? Measuring by the number of marriages, the answer will be those towns with the highest populations, such as Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford and Stamford. And in fact, in 2021, Bridgeport topped the list with more than 1,337 marriages, far ahead of Hartford with fewer than 900 marriages.

But taking population into account, one town jumps to the top of the list. Hampton, which had 155 marriages in 2021, had the highest rate of marriages given its population: 66.6 marriages for every 1,000 residents. No other town even reached a rate of 25.

Hampton's town clerk and first selectman's office was not immediately available for comment on Friday, but a wedding venue from the town is cited on several wedding planning websites: StoneHurst at Hampton Valley. The venue is also included in the Connecticut Office of Tourism's wedding planning starter page.

Correction

A previous version of this story, which was based on data from the Department of Public Health, incorrectly reported that the rates of marriage were per 100,000 population. The rate is actually per 1,000 people.

José is CT Mirror's data reporter, reporting data-driven stories and integrating data visualizations into his colleagues' stories. Prior to joining CT Mirror he spent the summer of 2022 at the Wall Street Journal as an investigative data intern. Prior to that, José held internships or fellowships with Texas Tribune, American Public Media Group, ProPublica, Bloomberg and the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. A native of Houston, he graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism.