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1 / 50#50. Computer network architects
- Divorce rate: 10.8% (72.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.4%
- Job employment: 152,670
- Mean annual salary: $111,130 (113.9% higher than national rate)
Jobs with the lowest divorce rates
The results are in, and it's official—divorce rates in America are on a downswing. A report from the Census Bureau released in October 2024 shows that marriage rates in the U.S. have held steady from 2008 to 2022, but divorces have become less common in that same time period. That's not because maintaining a happy marriage has gotten any easier, however—it takes a great deal of work, from managing work-life balance to navigating financial woes and everything in between. Studies have shown that people with stable, higher-paying jobs tend to experience lower divorce rates than those who don't earn as much money.
Couples who earn around $200,000 per year file for divorce at a rate of about 30%, according to 2019 data from the American Community Survey. In contrast, more than 40% of adults living below the poverty line had sought divorces.
It stands to reason that married couples who are less likely to encounter financial hardships will have a better chance of staying together. If both people in a marriage have high-paying jobs, they can use their combined wealth in mutually beneficial ways. Pharmacists, lawyers, and architects—fields that offer high average annual salaries and significant job stability—will have more money to provide for a family and pay their bills, can enjoy luxuries such as vacations, and generally lead fulfilling lives.
Stacker has compiled a list of 50 U.S. jobs with the lowest divorce rates using data from the 2001-2017 American Community Survey via IPUMS-USA—the U.S. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series—and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The majority of jobs on this list fall into the scientific, medical, and tech fields, and military jobs appear more than a few times.
Keep reading to find out the divorce and separation rates and the median salary for each job, and discover which job has the lowest divorce rate of all.
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2 / 50#49. Occupational therapists
- Divorce rate: 10.8% (72.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.3%
- Job employment: 126,900
- Mean annual salary: $85,350 (64.3% higher than national rate)
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3 / 50#48. Nurse anesthetists
- Divorce rate: 10.7% (72.6% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.2%
- Job employment: 43,520
- Mean annual salary: $174,790 (236.4% higher than national rate)
AleksandarMalivuk // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Agricultural and food scientists
- Divorce rate: 10.6% (72.7% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 30,880
- Mean annual salary: $71,230 (37.1% higher than national rate)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Speech-language pathologists
- Divorce rate: 10.6% (72.7% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 146,900
- Mean annual salary: $80,700 (55.3% higher than national rate)
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6 / 50#45. Computer programmers
- Divorce rate: 10.6% (72.7% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.2%
- Job employment: 230,470
- Mean annual salary: $89,580 (72.4% higher than national rate)
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7 / 50#44. Industrial engineers, including health and safety
- Divorce rate: 10.5% (73.0% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 305,780
- Mean annual salary: $91,800 (76.7% higher than national rate)
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8 / 50#43. First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers
- Divorce rate: 10.4% (73.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 2.2%
- Job employment: 21,800
- Mean annual salary: $50,790 (2.3% lower than national rate)
cristovao // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Environmental engineers
- Divorce rate: 10.4% (73.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 53,070
- Mean annual salary: $92,640 (78.3% higher than national rate)
NoyanYilmaz // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Environmental scientists and geoscientists
- Divorce rate: 10.3% (73.6% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 116,020
- Mean annual salary: $85,480 (64.5% higher than national rate)
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11 / 50#40. Web developers
- Divorce rate: 10.1% (74.0% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.6%
- Job employment: 127,300
- Mean annual salary: $75,580 (45.5% higher than national rate)
EricaSmit // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Audiologists
- Divorce rate: 10.1% (74.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.5%
- Job employment: 13,300
- Mean annual salary: $82,210 (58.2% higher than national rate)
RobLeyland // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Military enlisted tactical operations and air/weapons specialists and crew members
- Divorce rate: 10.1% (74.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 3.4%
- Job employment: Data not available
- Mean annual salary: Data not available
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14 / 50#37. First-line enlisted military supervisors
- Divorce rate: 10.0% (74.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 2.3%
- Job employment: Data not available
- Mean annual salary: Data not available
FrameStockFootages // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Atmospheric and space scientists
- Divorce rate: 10.0% (74.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.3%
- Job employment: 9,310
- Mean annual salary: $95,580 (83.9% higher than national rate)
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16 / 50#35. Lawyers, and judges, magistrates, and other judicial workers
- Divorce rate: 9.9% (74.6% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.2%
- Job employment: 671,270
- Mean annual salary: $132,680 (155.4% higher than national rate)
GoroDenkoff // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Chemists and materials scientists
- Divorce rate: 9.8% (74.9% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 92,300
- Mean annual salary: $85,400 (64.4% higher than national rate)
GoodLuz // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Architects, except naval
- Divorce rate: 9.8% (75.0% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 123,020
- Mean annual salary: $86,480 (66.4% higher than national rate)
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19 / 50#32. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
- Divorce rate: 9.7% (75.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 65,920
- Mean annual salary: $80,310 (54.6% higher than national rate)
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20 / 50#31. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
- Divorce rate: 9.7% (75.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 120,760
- Mean annual salary: $146,660 (182.3% higher than national rate)
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21 / 50#30. Computer and information research scientists
- Divorce rate: 9.6% (75.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.2%
- Job employment: 30,070
- Mean annual salary: $123,850 (138.4% higher than national rate)
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22 / 50#29. Veterinarians
- Divorce rate: 9.4% (75.9% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 71,060
- Mean annual salary: $105,240 (102.5% higher than national rate)
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23 / 50#28. Physical therapists
- Divorce rate: 9.3% (76.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 228,600
- Mean annual salary: $88,880 (71.1% higher than national rate)
Tissabro // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Military, rank not specified
- Divorce rate: 9.3% (76.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 2.7%
- Job employment: Data not available
- Mean annual salary: Data not available
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25 / 50#26. Materials engineers
- Divorce rate: 9.3% (76.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 26,930
- Mean annual salary: $96,930 (86.5% higher than national rate)
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26 / 50#25. Marine engineers and naval architects
- Divorce rate: 9.2% (76.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.2%
- Job employment: 11,350
- Mean annual salary: $98,970 (90.5% higher than national rate)
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27 / 50#24. Conservation scientists and foresters
- Divorce rate: 9.1% (76.7% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.7%
- Job employment: 30,600
- Mean annual salary: $64,720 (24.6% higher than national rate)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Aerospace engineers
- Divorce rate: 9.1% (76.8% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 63,960
- Mean annual salary: $117,100 (125.4% higher than national rate)
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29 / 50#22. Sales engineers
- Divorce rate: 9.0% (77.0% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.9%
- Job employment: 65,720
- Mean annual salary: $108,610 (109.0% higher than national rate)
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30 / 50#21. Astronomers and physicists
- Divorce rate: 8.9% (77.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 19,770
- Mean annual salary: $123,730 (138.1% higher than national rate)
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31 / 50#20. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Divorce rate: 8.9% (77.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 104,360
- Mean annual salary: $88,860 (71.0% higher than national rate)
RedPixel.PL // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Software developers, applications and systems software
- Divorce rate: 8.7% (77.7% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 1,308,490
- Mean annual salary: $111,040 (113.7% higher than national rate)
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33 / 50#18. Biomedical and agricultural engineers
- Divorce rate: 8.6% (78.0% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.3%
- Job employment: 20,600
- Mean annual salary: $87,090 (67.6% higher than national rate)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Economists
- Divorce rate: 8.5% (78.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 18,650
- Mean annual salary: $116,020 (123.3% higher than national rate)
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35 / 50#16. Pharmacists
- Divorce rate: 8.5% (78.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 309,550
- Mean annual salary: $123,670 (138.0% higher than national rate)
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36 / 50#15. Computer hardware engineers
- Divorce rate: 8.4% (78.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.3%
- Job employment: 60,750
- Mean annual salary: $117,840 (126.8% higher than national rate)
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37 / 50#14. Electrical and electronics engineers
- Divorce rate: 8.4% (78.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.1%
- Job employment: 320,610
- Mean annual salary: $104,250 (100.6% higher than national rate)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Civil engineers
- Divorce rate: 8.1% (79.1% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 306,030
- Mean annual salary: $93,720 (80.4% higher than national rate)
OilandGasPhotographer // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Mechanical engineers
- Divorce rate: 8.1% (79.2% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.9%
- Job employment: 303,440
- Mean annual salary: $92,800 (78.6% higher than national rate)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Military officer special and tactical operations leaders
- Divorce rate: 8.0% (79.6% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.8%
- Job employment: Data not available
- Mean annual salary: Data not available
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41 / 50#10. Directors, religious activities and education
- Divorce rate: 7.6% (80.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 21,700
- Mean annual salary: $46,980 (9.6% lower than national rate)
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42 / 50#9. Podiatrists
- Divorce rate: 7.6% (80.5% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 9,500
- Mean annual salary: $148,220 (185.3% higher than national rate)
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43 / 50#8. Dentists
- Divorce rate: 7.4% (81.0% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.8%
- Job employment: 128,060
- Mean annual salary: $180,590 (247.6% higher than national rate)
Wavebreakmedia // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Optometrists
- Divorce rate: 7.2% (81.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.8%
- Job employment: 37,220
- Mean annual salary: $119,980 (130.9% higher than national rate)
DuxX // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Petroleum, mining and geological engineers, including mining safety engineers
- Divorce rate: 7.2% (81.5% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.9%
- Job employment: 38,290
- Mean annual salary: $127,395 (145.2% higher than national rate)
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46 / 50#5. Physicians and surgeons
- Divorce rate: 7.1% (81.8% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 1.0%
- Job employment: 679,280
- Mean annual salary: $210,980 (306.0% higher than national rate)
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47 / 50#4. Surgeons
- Divorce rate: 6.8% (82.6% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.2%
- Job employment: 34,390
- Mean annual salary: $255,110 (391.0% higher than national rate)
Fotohunter // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Chemical engineers
- Divorce rate: 6.5% (83.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.8%
- Job employment: 32,060
- Mean annual salary: $114,470 (120.3% higher than national rate)
jd8 // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Actuaries
- Divorce rate: 5.7% (85.3% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.6%
- Job employment: 20,760
- Mean annual salary: $116,250 (123.7% higher than national rate)
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50 / 50#1. Clergy
- Divorce rate: 4.9% (87.4% lower than national rate)
- Separation rate: 0.6%
- Job employment: 50,960
- Mean annual salary: $53,290 (2.6% higher than national rate)
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