Researchers have combed through divorce records to compile a list of the U.S. states most likely to see marriage breakdowns and the ones where couples are least likely to call their lawyers. Newsweek has created a map showing the findings this week.
The most up-to-date figures relate to 2022 and were published as the latest in a series of "family profile" annual reports on the topic conducted by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR), which is run with assistance from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The research, "Divorce Rate in the U.S.: Geographic Variation, 2022," was authored by Jaden Loo in 2023.
According to the study, divorce peaked in the United States in 1979 with 22.6 divorces per 1,000 married women, but the rate has been steadily declining since then. Divorce rates plummeted during the pandemic, with a 12 percent reduction and a 40-year low of just 14 out of every 1,000 married women getting divorced in 2020. The figure was repeated again the following year in 2021.
But that trend may now be reversing somewhat, as the latest figures for 2022 show a slight rise in divorces when looking at the national average. The rate rose to 14.56 divorces for every 1,000 married women in 2022 when some 989,518 women reported that their relationships had been legally ended by the courts. Nevertheless, the 2022 divorce rate remained "below pre-pandemic levels," the study noted, when there were over 15 divorces per 1,000 women on average.
Arkansas saw the highest divorce rate in the country with 23.27 women out of every 1,000 getting divorced in 2022. That state also saw the highest number of divorces the previous year.
Making up the rest of the five most divorce-heavy states were New Mexico (20.56), Wyoming (19.96), Kentucky (19.52), and West Virginia (19.33). All four states were new entries to the top of the table comparing divorce stats.
On the other end of the spectrum, Vermont reported the lowest divorce rate in the U.S. at just 9.2 divorces per 1,000 married women.
The other four states making up the five areas with the lowest number of marriage breakdowns were New Jersey (10.41), Alaska (10.49), Minnesota (10.91), and Wisconsin (11.70). Only New Jersey was included in the bottom five in 2021, while the state with the lowest number of divorces in 2021 (New Hampshire) was no longer present in the bottom five at all.
Newsweek reached out to NCFMR at Bowling Green State University via email for comment.
Studies have regularly shown that January is the most popular month for divorce proceedings, after a particularly tough holiday season or because couples wait to provide one last family Christmas before splitting up.
Not everyone is legally entitled to divorce though; there are five states that prevent couples from divorcing if the wife is pregnant at the time.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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