Marriages

Vital statistics data have long been Missouri’s primary source of health information. Since 1949, the Department of Health and Senior Services has been the official state registrar for marriage records (MO Revised Statute, Chapter 193). This long history of collection and recording makes vital statistics the most complete and probably the most accurate of all the sources for Missouri health data. In recent years, the Department of Health and Senior Services has worked to improve the accuracy of vital statistics data and to automate processing of vital records at the original source.

Marriage data document some of the social characteristics of a population.