Divorce rates across the United States have been in steady decline over the last few decades, and recent figures show that decline may be speeding up. A recent report from Philip N. Cohen at the University of Maryland showed that the divorce rate in the US fell by 18% between 2008 and 2016.
Turns out, millennials are yet again to blame. First, they’re three times less likely to marry than their grandparents, so fewer marriages naturally results in fewer divorces. On top of that, millennials who do get married seem to be staying together – so far, at least.
Thanks again, millennials.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
Divorce rates vary broadly
Seriously, though, divorce rates are down in every single state (and Washington, D.C.) on our list since 1990. But that doesn’t mean divorces are going away. Plenty of people are still untying the knot.
So where are people getting divorced the most? We took a look at divorce rates since 1990 as compiled by the National Vital Statistics System and found the states with the most and least divorces per capita.
Keep reading to find out how your state (or D.C.) fares.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
US states with the most divorces
All of the divorce rates noted here are based on provisional counts of divorces by state of occurrence. Rates are per 1,000 total population residing in the area. (Note: Residency, not location of marriages, is used for divorce data, so popular states for destination weddings are not impacted from skewed data.)
There was no 2017 data available for five states, including California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota and New Mexico. We have omitted them from this list.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
22. (Tie) Missouri
2017: 3.1
2010: 3.9
2000: 4.5
1990: 5.1
Image Credit: Getty.
22. (Tie) Montana
2017: 3.1
2010: 3.9
2000: 4.2
1990: 5.1
Image Credit: Pixabay.
22. (Tie) New Hampshire
2017: 3.1
2010: 3.8
2000: 4.8
1990: 4.7
Image Credit: DenisTangneyJr.
22. (Tie) North Carolina
2017: 3.1
2010: 3.8
2000: 4.5
1990: 5.1
Image Credit: mcolligon.
18. (Tie) Colorado
2017: 3.2
2010: 4.3
2000: 4.7
1990: 5.5
Image Credit: ” Adventure_Photo.
18. (Tie) Maine
2017: 3.2
2010: 4.2
2000: 5.0
1990: 4.3
Image Credit: DenisTangneyJr.
16. (Tie) Oregon
2017: 3.4
2010: 4.0
2000: 4.8
1990: 5.5
Image Credit: Andrea P. Coan.
16. (Tie) Utah
2017: 3.4
2010: 3.7
2000: 4.3
1990: 5.1
Image Credit: johnnya123.
16. (Tie) Washington
2017: 3.4
2010: 4.2
2000: 4.6
1990: 5.9
Image Credit: 4nadia.
13. (Tie) West Virginia
2017: 3.5
2010: 5.1
2000: 5.1
1990: 5.3
Image Credit: ” Chayanisa Puttamata”.
13. (Tie) Tennessee
2017: 3.5
2010: 4.2
2000: 5.9
1990: 6.5
Image Credit: NathanMerrill.
13. (Tie) Georgia
2017: 3.5
2010: Not available
2000: 3.3
1990: 5.5
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
13. (Tie) Arizona
2017: 3.5
2010: 3.5
2000: 4.6
1990: 6.9
Image Credit: Davel5957/istockphoto.
9. (Tie) Florida
2017: 3.6
2010: 4.4
2000: 5.1
1990: 6.3
Image Credit: Getty.
9. (Tie) Alaska
2017: 3.6
2010: 4.7
2000: 3.9
1990: 5.5
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
7. (Tie) Kentucky
2017: 3.7
2010: 4.5
2000: 5.1
1990: 5.8
Image Credit: Thomas Kelley.
7. (Tie) Arkansas
2017: 3.7
2010: 5.7
2000: 6.4
1990: 6.9
Image Credit: Tara Ballard.
7. (Tie) Alabama
2017: 3.7
2010: 4.4
2000: 5.5
1990: 6.1
Image Credit: James Deitsch.
4. Idaho
2017: 3.9
2010: 5.2
2000: 5.5
1990: 6.5
Image Credit: shanecotee.
3. Wyoming
2017: 4.0
2010: 5.1
2000: 5.8
1990: 6.6
Image Credit: AnujSahaiPhotography.
2. Oklahoma
2017: 4.1
2010: 5.2
2000: Not available
1990: 7.7
Image Credit: tobynabors / iStock.
1. Nevada
2017: 4.5
2010: 5.9
2000: 9.9
1990: 11.4
Image Credit: lucky-photographer/istockphoto.
US states with the least divorces
As we said earlier, all of the divorce rates noted here are based on provisional counts of divorces by state of occurrence. Rates are per 1,000 total population residing in the area. (Note: Residency, not location of marriages, is used for divorce data, so popular states for destination weddings are not impacted from skewed data.)
There was no 2017 data available for five states, including California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota and New Mexico. We have omitted them from this list.
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
24. (Tie) Delaware
2017: 3.0
2010: 3.5
2000: 3.9
1990: 4.4
Image Credit: Getty.
24. (Tie) Nebraska
2017: 3.0
2010: 3.6
2000: 3.7
1990: 4.0
Image Credit: Davel5957/istockphoto.
24. (Tie) Virginia
2017: 3.0
2010: 3.8
2000: 4.3
1990: 4.4
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
21. (Tie) Vermont
2017: 2.9
2010: 3.8
2000: 4.1
1990: 4.5
Image Credit: ” DonLand”.
21. (Tie) Rhode Island
2017: 2.9
2010: 3.2
2000: 2.9
1990: 3.7
Image Credit: C_Cherdchai.
21. (Tie) Ohio
2017: 2.9
2010: 3.4
2000: 4.2
1990: 4.7
Image Credit: Davel5957/istockphoto.
21. (Tie) Mississippi
2017: 2.9
2010: 4.3
2000: 5.0
1990: 5.5
Image Credit: 12019 / Pixabay.com.
21. (Tie) Connecticut
2017: 2.9
2010: 2.9
2000: 3.3
1990: 3.2
Image Credit: DenisTangneyJr.
16. Michigan
2017: 2.8
2010: 3.5
2000: 3.9
1990: 4.3
Image Credit: haveseen.
15. (Tie) South Dakota
2017: 2.7
2010: 3.4
2000: 3.5
1990: 3.7
Image Credit: RiverNorthPhotography.
15. (Tie) New York
2017: 2.7
2010: 2.9
2000: 3.0
1990: 3.2
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
13. (Tie) South Carolina
2017: 2.6
2010: 3.1
2000: 3.8
1990: 4.5
Image Credit: strickke.
13. (Tie) Pennsylvania
2017: 2.6
2010: 2.7
2000: 3.1
1990: 3.3
Image Credit: AppalachianViews.
13. (Tie) New Jersey
2017: 2.6
2010: 3.0
2000: 3.0
1990: 3.0
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
10. (Tie) North Dakota
2017: 2.5
2010: 3.1
2000: 3.4
1990: 3.6
Image Credit: Getty.
10. (Tie) Maryland
2017: 2.5
2010: 2.8
2000: 3.3
1990: 3.4
Image Credit: Getty.
10. (Tie) District of Columbia
2017: 2.5
2010: 2.8
2000: 3.2
1990: 4.5
Image Credit: ajansen/istockphoto.
7. (Tie) Wisconsin
2017: 2.4
2010: 3.0
2000: 3.2
1990: 3.6
Image Credit: Getty.
7. (Tie) Kansas
2017: 2.4
2010: 3.7
2000: 3.6
1990: 5.0
Image Credit: LawrenceSawyer/istockphoto.
5. (Tie) Texas
2017: 2.2
2010: 3.3
2000: 4.0
1990: 5.5
Image Credit: DepositPhotos.com.
5. (Tie) Massachusetts
2017: 2.2
2010: 2.5
2000: 2.5
1990: 2.8
Image Credit: Rolf_52.
3. Iowa
2017: 2.0
2010: 2.4
2000: 3.3
1990: 3.9
Image Credit: Pixabay.
1. (Tie) Louisiana
2017: 1.9
2010: Not available
2000: Not available
1990: Not available
Image Credit: Photoservice/istockphoto.
1. (Tie) Illinois
2017: 1.9
2010: 2.6
2000: 3.2
1990: 3.8
This article originally appeared on MediaFeed.org.
Image Credit: Getty.
