Blacks are three times more likely to have a white spouse today versus 30 years ago, according to an Associated Press analysis of Census Bureau data.

About 14.4 percent of black men and 6.5 percent of black women are currently married to whites, the report showed. Sociologists attributed this trend to higher educational attainment by blacks, a more racially integrated military and a rising black middle class that provides more interaction with other races.

In contrast, the growth of interracial marriages is slowing among U.S.-born Hispanics and Asians.

About 8 percent of U.S. marriages are mixed-race, up from 7 percent in 2000.

Among the findings:

--Hawaii had the highest share of mixed marriages, about 32 percent. It was followed by Alaska, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nevada, which ranged from 15 percent to 19 percent. The bottom five states were Pennsylvania, Maine, Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia, each ranging from 3 percent to 4 percent.

--Mississippi had the fastest growth in mixed marriages from 2000-08, a sign of closer ties between blacks and whites, though it still ranked second to last in overall share of mixed marriages.

--Mixed marriages jumped from 2.25 million to 3.7 million, or 65 percent, from 1990-2000, as such unions became more broadly accepted in Southern states.

--Among U.S.-born whites, about 0.3 percent married blacks in 1980; that figure rose to about 1 percent in 2008. About 0.3 percent of whites married Asians in 1980 and about 1 percent in 2008. About 2 percent of whites married Hispanics in 1980, rising to about 3.6 percent in 2008.

Read more at TheGrio.com.

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