In 2022, the divorce rate in the United States stood at *** per 1,000 of the population. Divorce in the U.S. Divorce is the termination of a marital union. In the United States, as in most other countries, it is a legal process in which a judge or another legal authority dissolves the bonds of matrimony existing between two persons. The process of divorce also normally involves issues surrounding distribution of property, financial support of the former spouse, child custody and child support. A divorce also allows a person to marry again.In the United States, divorce is, like marriage, a matter for state governments, not the federal government. Although divorce laws vary from state to state, for example on which terms a divorce can be arranged, a divorce must be certified by a court of law to become effective. A declining divorce rate Over the last couple of years, both the marriage rate and the divorce rate have been declining in the United States. As of 2009, the average length of a first marriage in the U.S. was ***** years, while the average length of a second marriage was about ** years.

Despite public opinion that divorce is becoming more frequent in the United States, the divorce rate actually seems to be declining, with Nevada being the top state for divorce in 2022, with a rate of *** divorces per 1,000 of the population, followed by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Idaho, and Wyoming. Marriage and divorce in Nevada Nevada has one of the highest marriage rates in the country, and Las Vegas is a popular wedding destination. Nevada is one of the few states in the U.S. that allows couples to get a marriage license and get married immediately afterwards. In addition, Nevada is a no-fault divorce state, which means that couples do not need to address the reason behind the divorce. Divorced couples in the U.S. In recent years, the number of divorced individuals over age 50 in the U.S. seems to have surpassed the number of those who were under the age of 30, but whether the younger generation remains married longer than generations past is yet to be seen. Additionally, far more children of divorced parents lived with a female single parent, rather than a male single parent.

In 2022, the marriage rate in the United States stood at *** per 1,000 people of the population. This is a decrease from 1990 levels, when the marriage rate was *** marriages per 1,000 people. Marriage Marriage is a union that can legally, culturally, and financially bind two people. Marriage occurs between all genders, races, and cultures, and is often drastically different all around the world, due to the diversity of cultures and religions. Marriage can be recognized by a state, religious authority, or an organization. Typically viewed as a contract, it brings people together through a multitude of avenues. A part of marriage is the wedding, for which couples can decide to partake in or not. Weddings are also incredibly diverse and vary in time, money, and customs. Marriage in the United States Marriage in the United States is viewed differently across all 50 states. The number of married couples in the United States has been steadily increasing since 1960. On the other hand, the divorce rate in the United States has decreased since 1990. Nevada was the state in 2021 that had the highest marriage rate in the United States, due to easy accessibility to get married there. In 2021, Nevada was also the state with the highest divorce rate in the country.

As of 2025, Sri Lanka had the lowest divorce rate in the world, with 0.15 divorces per 1,000 population. Vietnam and Guatemala followed with 0.2 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants.

As of 2024, the divorce rate in China decreased to *** divorces per 1,000 inhabitants. Before 2020, this number had been constantly increasing since 2002. Divorce rate in Asian countries The divorce rate in China soared from around **** divorces per 1,000 people in 2000 to **** divorces in 2019. This is a quite high value compared to the divorce rate of countries in the Asia Pacific region. However, China shares the fate of a growing divorce rate with many other developing countries, while in most developed countries, the number of divorces per 1,000 inhabitants is either stable or falling. For example, the divorce rate in Singapore has been manly stable at *** divorces per 1,000 inhabitants in the last ten years and the divorce rate in South Korea has fallen from *** in 2009 to *** in 2024. In comparison, the U.S. divorce rate has been falling since 1992 from *** divorces per 1,000 people to *** divorces in 2022. Dating scene in China For the younger generations, dating and marriage happens (if at all) at a much later life stage compared to their parents. The fact that China has the highest working hours in the region does not ease the dire situation for singles in China, most of them being employed as professionals or employed in the media sector, where long working hours and high work pressure are quite common.

In 2022, there were about ******* divorces conducted in the United States. This is a decrease from the previous year, when there were about ******* divorces conducted nationwide.

According to the 2020 UNIDOMO questionnaire, Portugal clearly led the list of European countries with the highest divorce rate per 100 marriages. With 91.5 divorces the Portuguese Republic led the list, followed by Spain and Luxembourg. All three countries boast a significantly higher share than the other European countries, each reporting a divorce rate over 80 divorces.

A different way to look at Portugal

While Portugal clearly has the most divorces per 100 marriages, looking at divorce rates per 1.000 inhabitants in other European countries alters the picture of the country as one unsettled by significant numbers of divorces. With nearly 1.7 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants Portugal has roughly the same divorce rate as Germany and the Netherlands. Interesting is furthermore that although marriages in Portugal tend to result in divorce lightly more often as in Luxembourg (80.3%), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg experienced a 0.6 point higher divorce rate.

What about the rest of the World?

While compared with Latin American countries like Guatemala or Peru, ranked among the countries with the lowest divorce rates in the world, Luxembourg’s divorce rate seems excessive. However, when compared with divorce rates (per 1.000 inhabitants) of countries like the United States (2.7) or China (3.5) divorce rates from Luxembourg and Europe are not out of the ordinary.

Key Table Information.Table Title.Divorces in the Last Year by Sex by Marital Status for the Population 15 Years and Over.Table ID.ACSDT1Y2024.B12503.Survey/Program.American Community Survey.Year.2024.Dataset.ACS 1-Year Estimates Detailed Tables.Source.U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates.Dataset Universe.The dataset universe of the American Community Survey (ACS) is the U.S. resident population and housing. For more information about ACS residence rules, see the ACS Design and Methodology Report. Note that each table describes the specific universe of interest for that set of estimates..Methodology.Unit(s) of Observation.American Community Survey (ACS) data are collected from individuals living in housing units and group quarters, and about housing units whether occupied or vacant. For more information about ACS sampling and data collection, see the ACS Design and Methodology Report..Geography Coverage.ACS data generally reflect the geographic boundaries of legal and statistical areas as of January 1 of the estimate year. For more information, see Geography Boundaries by Year.Estimates of urban and rural populations, housing units, and characteristics reflect boundaries of urban areas defined based on 2020 Census data. As a result, data for urban and rural areas from the ACS do not necessarily reflect the results of ongoing urbanization..Sampling.The ACS consists of two separate samples: housing unit addresses and group quarters facilities. Independent housing unit address samples are selected for each county or county-equivalent in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with sampling rates depending on a measure of size for the area. For more information on sampling in the ACS, see the Accuracy of the Data document..Confidentiality.The Census Bureau has modified or suppressed some estimates in ACS data products to protect respondents' confidentiality. Title 13 United States Code, Section 9, prohibits the Census Bureau from publishing results in which an individual's data can be identified. For more information on confidentiality protection in the ACS, see the Accuracy of the Data document..Technical Documentation/Methodology.Information about the American Community Survey (ACS) can be found on the ACS website. Supporting documentation including code lists, subject definitions, data accuracy, and statistical testing, and a full list of ACS tables and table shells (without estimates) can be found on the Technical Documentation section of the ACS website.Sample size and data quality measures (including coverage rates, allocation rates, and response rates) can be found on the American Community Survey website in the Methodology section.Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. The degree of uncertainty for an estimate arising from sampling variability is represented through the use of a margin of error. The value shown here is the 90 percent margin of error. The margin of error can be interpreted roughly as providing a 90 percent probability that the interval defined by the estimate minus the margin of error and the estimate plus the margin of error (the lower and upper confidence bounds) contains the true value. In addition to sampling variability, the ACS estimates are subject to nonsampling error (for a discussion of nonsampling variability, see ACS Technical Documentation). The effect of nonsampling error is not represented in these tables.Users must consider potential differences in geographic boundaries, questionnaire content or coding, or other methodological issues when comparing ACS data from different years. Statistically significant differences shown in ACS Comparison Profiles, or in data users' own analysis, may be the result of these differences and thus might not necessarily reflect changes to the social, economic, housing, or demographic characteristics being compared. For more information, see Comparing ACS Data..Weights.ACS estimates are obtained from a raking ratio estimation procedure that results in the assignment of two sets of weights: a weight to each sample person record and a weight to each sample housing unit record. Estimates of person characteristics are based on the person weight. Estimates of family, household, and housing unit characteristics are based on the housing unit weight. For any given geographic area, a characteristic total is estimated by summing the weights assigned to the persons, households, families or housing units possessing the characteristic in the geographic area. For more information on weighting and estimation in the ACS, see the Accuracy of the Data document.Although the American Community Survey (ACS) produces population, demographic and housing unit estimates, the decennial census is the official source of population totals for April 1st of each decennial year. In between censuses, the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program produces and disseminates the official estimates of the population for the na...

In 2023, the European country with the highest divorce rate per 100 marriages was Finland, with more than 55 divorces. At the bottom of the list was Ireland with only 15.5 divorces per 100 marriages.

This statistic shows the number of children living with single divorced parents in the United States in 2020, by race. In 2020, ****** Asian children lived with their divorced single father.

How many married couples are in the U.S.? In 2023, there were 62.18 million married couples in the United States. This is an increase from 40.2 million married couples in 1960. Marriage in the U.S. While the number of married couples in the U.S. has increased in the past few decades, this could very well just be due to population change, since while the U.S. population has been increasing, the marriage rate has decreased significantly since 1990. In addition, the divorce rate has almost halved since 1990 despite concerns that more people are getting divorced than in years past. Same-sex marriage in the U.S. After years of advocacy, same-sex marriage became legal in the United States in June 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal in a landmark ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. In 2015, a clear majority of Americans were in favor of the legalization of same-sex marriage, and approval has only been increasing in the years since.

In the United States, significantly more children under the age of 18 live with a female divorced parent than a male divorced parent. In 2021, about ****** children under the age of one lived with their divorced, single father, compared with ****** children of the same age who lived with their divorced single mother.

In 2022, there were around **** million marriages in the United States. This is an increase from the previous year, when about **** million marriages were registered in the country. The divorce rate in the United States can be accessed here.

In 2023, there were about 15.09 million children living with a single mother in the United States, and about 3.05 million children living with a single father. The number of children living with a single mother is down from its peak in 2012, and the number of children living with a single father is down from its peak in 2005.

Marriage and divorce in the United States

Despite popular opinion in the United States that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” the divorce rate in the U.S. has fallen significantly since 1992. The marriage rate, which has also been decreasing since the 1990s, was still higher than the divorce rate in 2021. Half of all marriages may not end in divorce, but it does seem that fewer people are choosing to get married in the first place.

New family structures

In addition to a falling marriage rate, fewer people in the U.S. have children under the age of 18 living in the house in comparison to 1970. Over the past decade, the share of families with children under 18, whether that be married couples or single parents, has stayed mostly steady, although the number of births in the U.S. has also fallen.

In 2022, there were 67.85 million married men and 68.45 million married women living in the United States. This is compared to 3.7 million widowed men and 11.48 million widowed women.

Marriage in the United States

Nevada had the highest marriage rate in the United States in 2021, followed by Hawaii and Montana. This can be attributed to marriage accessibility in the state. Las Vegas weddings are known for being quick, easy, and inexpensive chapel weddings. In comparison to the cheap weddings available in Las Vegas, the average expenditure for a wedding in the United States was the highest in New Jersey, clocking in at 51,000 U.S. dollars.

Same-sex marriage

The number of Americans who think that same-sex marriage should be recognized by law has more than doubled since 1996, while the number of Americans who think it should not be valid has decreased. It was not until June 26, 2015 that the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Before then, it was up to the states to decide if they allowed same-sex marriage. States in the Southeast are the most opposed to same-sex marriage, whereas the strongest support comes from Northern coastal states.

In 2022, there were about 4.15 million Black families in the United States with a single mother. This is an increase from 1990 levels, when there were about 3.4 million Black families with a single mother.

Single parenthood

The typical family is comprised of two parents and at least one child. However, that is not the case in every single situation. A single parent is someone who has a child but no spouse or partner. Single parenthood occurs for different reasons, including divorce, death, abandonment, or single-person adoption. Historically, single parenthood was common due to mortality rates due to war, diseases, and maternal mortality. However, divorce was not as common back then, depending on the culture.

Single parent wellbeing

In countries where social welfare programs are not strong, single parents tend to suffer more financially, emotionally, and mentally. In the United States, most single parents are mothers. The struggles that single parents face are greater than those in two parent households. The number of families with a single mother in the United States has increased since 1990, but the poverty rate of black families with a single mother has significantly decreased since that same year. In comparison, the poverty rate of Asian families with a single mother, and the percentage of white, non-Hispanic families with a single mother who live below the poverty level in the United States have both been fluctuating since 2002.