Kentucky and Indiana Among States with the Highest Divorce Rates

The United States has the 10th highest divorce rate in the world, but the rates vary significantly from state to state.

READ MORE: The Average Wedding Cost in Indiana Is Far from Cheap

There is a lot that can be said about divorce and its impact. It’s one of those subjects that everybody has something to say about, but the common denominator most of the time is this: it’s not fun. You’ve likely heard that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. There are many reasons couples decide to call it quits, and the likelihood of divorce can also be affected by where you live.

States with High Divorce Rates

Forbes Advisor examined divorce rates by state, and what they found actually surprised me a bit. According to Forbes, the overall divorce rate in the United States is 2.5%, which is much higher than the worldwide divorce rate of 1.8%. Wyoming, New Mexico, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Kentucky are the top five states for divorce. In Kentucky, the divorce rate currently sits at 19.52%, which means that 12.60% of the state's population has gone through a divorce.

Get our free mobile app

If we move a little further down the list, we find Indiana hanging out in the top 10 at No. 10. The Hoosier State checks in with a divorce rate of 17.79%. I was genuinely surprised to see that divorce rates are highest in southern and midwestern states. One would think rates would be higher in places with much bigger cities; however, it turns out that the opposite is true.

States with Low Divorce Rates

The states with the lowest divorce rates are actually Alaska, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, and California. Forbes cited a few reasons for this, including the fact that people living in these states tend to marry at a later age. In California, for example, the average age of marriage is about 30.9 years old, which is nearly half a decade later than in Arkansas. Additionally, states like Massachusetts and New Jersey have some of the highest levels of educational attainment in the United States. Since education is negatively correlated with divorce, higher levels of education among residents contribute to a lower overall divorce rate within these states.

The Good News About Divorce Rates

According to Forbes, even though there was a small uptick in the divorce rate in 2022, it’s actually been going down since 2008. The rate hit a 40-year low for two years in a row, with just 14 divorces per 1,000 marriages in both 2020 and 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic probably contributed to this, as people couldn’t easily get to the courthouse. Still, overall, the divorce rate is on a downward trend. Only time will tell if that trend continues.