Divorce in the United States - Statistics & Facts

Nevada leads the rankings

In the decades after the Divorce Reform Act, divorces increased. However, since the 1980s the divorced population has decreased again. This could be due to a general decrease in marriage rates in the United States. Nowadays, Nevada has the highest divorce rate in the country. Unsurprisingly, it also has the highest marriage rate. Marrying in Nevada is easier than in other states, as it is the only U.S. state where it is possible to get a marriage license and immediately get married. Similarly, getting a divorce is faster. In Nevada and Idaho, the minimum time of residence to submit a divorce is six weeks.

Demographics of the divorced population

As of 2019, there were about 750,000 divorces registered in the United States. The divorce rate stands at 2.9 per 1,000 of the population. Data on family income levels show that, in absolute values, there are more divorces among the lowest and the very high-income groups of the population. In terms of childcare, children of divorce live with the mothers in the most cases. In 2019, there were almost 15 million families with a single mother, whereas the number of families with a single father added up to 6.5 million. The highest share of households led by a single mother and with children aged under 18 was in Louisiana and Mississippi, where they exceed 11 percent of all households.

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