Marrying for money is a repulsive idea. We should marry for love. We should search for our soul mate. Or at least that’s what the movies tell us.

The reality is a bit more complicated. The explosion in the number of millionaires and billionaires over the past decade has provided unprecedented opportunities for gold-digging, and brought the issue of marrying for money into stark relief.

My print column today looks at a new survey that asks Americans the question: “How willing are you to marry an average looking person that you liked, if they had money?” The question was asked of 1,134 people with incomes between $30,000 to $60,000 — squarely in the middle of the American income range.

Half of all the men in the survey and two-thirds of all women said they were “very” or “extremely” willing. In other words, while Americans say they marry for love, most are willing to marry for money.

But what’s their price?

Heart -- and dollarHere’s where the survey gets interesting. The average amount of money that a person would need for a prospective spouse to be “money-marrying” material is $1.7 million.

For women, the price changes depending on age. Women in their 20s have the highest price: $2.5 million. Women in their 30s are willing to take $1.1 million, but the price rises again to $2.2 million when they hit their 40s.

Men are cheaper, no matter what age: They’re willing to take about $1 million.

Of course, marrying for money makes for a miserable marriage and life. Which is why most of those who said they would marry for money also said didn’t think it would last. A whopping 71% of women in their 20s who said they would marry someone for money also expected they’d divorce that person.

In our mercenary age, with a growing gap between the rich and everyone else, it’s no surprise that marriage has become more of a transaction than commitment. Whether it’s Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, or Heather Mills and Paul McCartney, money (how much, who gets what) seems be the motivator, or at least the end result.

To vote on whether you would marry for love, go to our online forum. I’d love to know from Wealth Report readers how much it would take to get them to marry for money. $1 million? $10 million? $1 billion?