How Divorce Rates in Your State Have Changed Since 1990

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How divorce rates in your state have changed since 1990

Any engaged couple has likely heard that half of all marriages end in divorce—whether from a well-meaning friend hoping they're making a well-considered decision or someone with more mean-spirited intentions. While that fact is true when it comes to first marriages, the true picture of divorce rates is a bit more complicated.

Regionally, the average rate of divorce was highest in the American West (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and Oregon) at 3.15 per 1000 people. It was the lowest in the Northeast (Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) with 2.29 divorces per 1,000 people.

To dig deeper into the state-by-state data, Stacker used divorce statistics from the CDC/National Center for Health Statistics to determine how divorce rates in every state have changed since 1990. The states are listed here alphabetically, and their changing divorce rates are represented as percent changes from 1990 to 2021 (the most recent year of data available). California, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, and New Mexico are not included as divorce rates were not provided for 1990 and 2021.

Rates are based on provisional counts of divorces by the state of occurrence. Rates are per 1,000 people residing in the area. The population listed is current as of April 1 for 1990, 2000, and 2010 and estimated as of July 1 for all other years. Keep reading to discover whether divorce rates have trended up or down in your state.

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Alabama

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.1 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 41%
- #31 biggest decrease among states with data

Alaska

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.1 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 43.6%
- #25 biggest decrease among states with data

Arizona

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.9 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.7 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 60.9%
- #6 biggest decrease among states with data

Arkansas

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.9 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 47.8%
- #15 biggest decrease among states with data

Colorado

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 45.5%
- #20 biggest decrease among states with data

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Connecticut

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.2 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.5 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 21.9%
- #44 biggest decrease among states with data

Delaware

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.4 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 40.9%
- #32 biggest decrease among states with data

District of Columbia

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 42.2%
- #28 biggest decrease among states with data

Florida

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.3 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.4 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 46%
- #19 biggest decrease among states with data

Georgia

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.2 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 60%
- #7 biggest decrease among states with data

Idaho

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.4 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 47.7%
- #16 biggest decrease among states with data

Illinois

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.8 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 1.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 65.8%
- #2 biggest decrease among states with data

Iowa

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.9 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 41%
- #30 biggest decrease among states with data

Kansas

- 1990 divorce rate: 5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 1.9 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 62%
- #5 biggest decrease among states with data

Kentucky

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.8 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 43.1%
- #27 biggest decrease among states with data

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Maine

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.3 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.7 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 37.2%
- #35 biggest decrease among states with data

Maryland

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.4 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 1.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 52.9%
- #8 biggest decrease among states with data

Massachusetts

- 1990 divorce rate: 2.8 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 1 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 64.3%
- #3 biggest decrease among states with data

Michigan

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.3 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 46.5%
- #18 biggest decrease among states with data

Mississippi

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 40%
- #33 biggest decrease among states with data

Missouri

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.1 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.9 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 43.1%
- #26 biggest decrease among states with data

Montana

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.1 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.5 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 51%
- #9 biggest decrease among states with data

Nebraska

- 1990 divorce rate: 4 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 35%
- #37 biggest decrease among states with data

Nevada

- 1990 divorce rate: 11.4 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 4.2 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 63.2%
- #4 biggest decrease among states with data

New Hampshire

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.7 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 44.7%
- #22 (tied) biggest decrease among states with data

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New Jersey

- 1990 divorce rate: 3 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.2 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 26.7%
- #43 biggest decrease among states with data

New York

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.2 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.2 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 31.3%
- #39 biggest decrease among states with data

North Carolina

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.1 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.2 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 37.3%
- #34 biggest decrease among states with data

North Dakota

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.9 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 19.4%
- #45 biggest decrease among states with data

Ohio

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.7 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.6 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 44.7%
- #22 (tied) biggest decrease among states with data

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Oklahoma

- 1990 divorce rate: 7.7 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.8 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 50.6%
- #12 biggest decrease among states with data

Oregon

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.7 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 50.9%
- #10 biggest decrease among states with data

Pennsylvania

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.3 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.4 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 27.3%
- #41 biggest decrease among states with data

Rhode Island

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.7 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.7 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 27%
- #42 biggest decrease among states with data

South Carolina

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.4 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 46.7%
- #17 biggest decrease among states with data

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South Dakota

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.7 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.5 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 32.4%
- #38 biggest decrease among states with data

Tennessee

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 49.2%
- #13 biggest decrease among states with data

Texas

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 1.4 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 74.5%
- #1 biggest decrease among states with data

Utah

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.1 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 35.3%
- #36 biggest decrease among states with data

Vermont

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.5 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.3 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 48.9%
- #14 biggest decrease among states with data

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Virginia

- 1990 divorce rate: 4.4 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.1 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 29.5%
- #40 biggest decrease among states with data

Washington

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.9 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.9 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 50.8%
- #11 biggest decrease among states with data

West Virginia

- 1990 divorce rate: 5.3 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.9 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 45.3%
- #21 biggest decrease among states with data

Wisconsin

- 1990 divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 2.1 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 41.7%
- #29 biggest decrease among states with data

Wyoming

- 1990 divorce rate: 6.6 per 1,000 people
- 2021 divorce rate: 3.7 per 1,000 people
- Change in divorce rate: 43.9%
- #24 biggest decrease among states with data

Data reporting by Lucas Hicks. Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.

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