Top 15 U.S. Cities with the Highest Divorce Rates

Marriage in the second half of the 20th and 21st centuries has changed socially, legally, and economically.

Since the 1960s, several U.S. states began adopting no-fault divorce laws, thus making it easier to end a marriage. Apart from this, these social shifts have also made it possible for couples to do everything married couples do without the marriage. Studies conducted over the years have calculated and ranked U.S. cities and states according to the rate of divorce.

15 U.S. Cities with the Highest Divorce Rates

Researchers calculated the percentage of divorced couples in the cities with the highest divorce rates. Divorce proceedings are common, but the outcome can be unpredictable. Below are the top fifteen cities in the United States that have the highest divorce rates with their divorce percentages:

1. Albuquerque, with 15.1 percent

2. Tulsa, with 14.6 percent

3. Tucson, with 14.3 percent

4. Jacksonville, with 14.0 percent

5. Las Vegas, with 13.8 percent

6. Miami, with 13.5 percent

7. Cleveland, with 13.5 percent

8. Tampa, with 13.5 percent

9. Wichita, with 13.5 percent

10. Kansas City, with 13.3 percent

11. Louisville/Jefferson County with 13.0 percent

12. Colorado Springs, with 13.0 percent

13. Oklahoma City, with 12.9 percent

14. New Orleans, with 12.8 percent

15. Aurora, with 12.7 percent

For cities with the same percentage, the cities with the highest number of adults ranked higher. To improve the relevance and significance of these statistics, researchers only included cities with at least 100,000 residents.

Marriage and Divorce Rates in the U.S. Then and Now

The shift in trends has contributed to the decline in the overall number of marriages today. It has also increased how long people choose to wait before deciding to settle down.

Today, the U.S. witnesses only 6.5 marriages per 1,000 people yearly, 4.4 less than five decades ago. Additionally, the age at first marriage changed from 22 in the early 1970s to 28.8 in 2018. 

Meanwhile, due to the reduction in the number of marriages today, the rates of divorce have also declined. This decline started in the 1980s when the shifts in trends started affecting the chances of married couples staying together.

For instance, between 1960 and 1980, divorce rates in the U.S. rose quickly, particularly as feminism rose and women started entering the workforce. The numbers doubled by more than 100 percent but began falling after 1980. By 2018, divorce rates in the United States had dropped to 2.9 per 1,000 people.

Divorce Rates and Age at First Marriage

There has always been a link between age at first and divorce rates, but this link explains the geographic differences in divorce rates. For example, most states with low divorce rates also have a higher median age for marriage. These states include New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey; they have less than ten percent of divorced adults.

However, these states also have an age at first marriage above thirty, except Utah, which has an age for the first marriage of 25.5. At nine percent, Utah also has the third lowest percentage of divorced adults, likely due to religious reasons.

On the other hand, Nevada and Maine are the leading states in terms of the overall divorce rates in the United States. At 13.9 percent, these two states are leading other states in the share of currently divorced individuals. Meanwhile, at the local level, most cities with the highest divorce rates are in Appalachia, Florida, and the Southwest.

In Conclusion

The dynamics of marriage and divorce in the United States have transformed significantly. The introduction of no-fault divorce laws in the 1960s, combined with broader social changes, has reshaped the landscape of relationships.

Our examination of the top 15 U.S. cities with the highest divorce rates illustrates intriguing trends. These cities, spanning different sizes and regions, share higher divorce percentages, highlighting the challenges couples face in maintaining their unions.

“It's important to note that divorce rates offer a glimpse into the state of marriage, but they are influenced by various factors, including the age at first marriage, cultural norms, and economic conditions. States with lower divorce rates tend to see people marrying at older ages,” says divorce attorney Matt Towson of Towson Law Firm. 

The overall picture is one of adaptation, with declining marriage and divorce rates reflecting evolving societal attitudes, delaying marriage, and embracing alternative relationship structures.