Divorce Rate by State 2026

Marriage and divorce are both common experiences for adults, although both can be challenging. About 90% of people in Western cultures enter either heterosexual or same-sex marriages by age 50. In the United States, between 35%-50% of first-time marriages end in divorce, increasing to approximately 60% for second marriages and 70+% for marriages after the second. This gives the US one of the highest divorce rates in the world. Divorces can be emotionally and financially difficult, and can greatly impact not only the divorcees but also their children.

Marriage and divorce rates describe annual events and should be compared using consistent definitions. According to the United States Census Bureau’s 2012 and 2022 comparison, the national marriage rate in 2022 was 16.7 and the national divorce rate was 7.1 per 1,000 women aged 15 and older. These American Community Survey (ACS) measures count women who reported marrying or divorcing during the previous year. They differ from National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) rates based on legal events per 1,000 total residents; see marriage rates by state for related comparisons.

10 States with the Highest Divorce Rates (NCHS 2021):

These historical NCHS rates are divorces per 1,000 total residents, not the ACS rates per 1,000 women aged 15 and older discussed above.

For 2021, Nevada posted the highest divorce rate among states reporting NCHS data, with 4.2 divorces per 1,000 total residents. Its NCHS marriage rate was 26.2 per 1,000 total residents that year. These historical event-based rates use a different denominator and method from the 2022 Census ACS rates and should not be compared as if they were the same measure.

10 States with the Lowest Divorce Rates (NCHS 2021)

Trends in Divorce Rates in the U.S.

In the Census Bureau’s ACS comparison, the national marriage rate was approximately stable between 2012 and 2022, moving from 16.6 to 16.7 per 1,000 women aged 15 and older. The divorce rate declined from 9.8 to 7.1 over the same period. The Census Bureau describes this as declining divorce rates alongside largely unchanged marriage rates, rather than a decline in both measures.

An annual divorce rate does not measure the probability that a particular marriage will eventually end in divorce. The visualization describes population-level patterns; it does not establish why those patterns changed or the outcome for an individual couple.

Difficulty Interpreting Divorce Rates

Divorce statistics use different denominators and definitions. The Census ACS rate measures women who divorced in the previous year per 1,000 women aged 15 and older. NCHS event-based rates count divorces per 1,000 total residents. Neither measure is the percentage of residents who are currently divorced or the percentage of marriages that will eventually end in divorce. Always identify the source, reporting year, and denominator before comparing rates.

For example, Oklahoma’s historical NCHS rates in 2021 were 3.8 divorces and 6.1 marriages per 1,000 total residents. Dividing these rates yields a ratio of about 62%, but that is a ratio of separate annual events, not the percentage of those marriages that ended in divorce. Divorces in one year can involve marriages formed many years earlier.

Moreover, the percentage of a state’s residents who are divorced may sometimes be incorrectly presented as the divorce rate. To return to Oklahoma as an example, 10.25% of its residents identified themselves as divorcees. However, this is not the state’s divorce rate, either. Rather, it is the percentage of the state’s citizens who are currently divorced, which does not include those who have remarried after a divorce and includes every divorcee regardless of the year in which the divorce took place. As such, this percentage does not necessarily correspond to the current divorce rate.

Finally, it is important to note that divorce rates do not include individuals who are currently separated from their spouse, but not yet divorced.

Factors that Influence Divorce Rates

Divorce rates can be affected by several different variables. The most obvious of these is age. The average age for couples going through their first divorce is 30 years old. Couples married between the ages of 20-25 are 60% likely to get a divorce. Those who wait until they are older than 25 to get married are 24% less likely to get divorced.

Education, lifestyle, religious beliefs, and time of year are also important influencing factors. Couples who have attained a higher level of education reduce their risk of divorce, and those with strong religious beliefs are 14% less likely to get a divorce. Couples who are both heavy drinkers are less likely to divorce than couples in which only one member is a heavy drinker. Divorce rates consistently spike in March and August every year. Northeastern states tend to have the lowest marriage and divorce rates, while Southern and Western states tend to have the highest marriage and divorce rates.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau survey, the top three reasons for divorces are incompatibility (43%), infidelity (28%), and money issues (22%).