In 2023, the United States recorded 672,502 divorces and annulments across the states that report them, a rate of 2.4 per 1,000 residents. The table below shows the same rate for 45 states and the District of Columbia, taken from the CDC's National Vital Statistics System. 5 states did not report a 2023 figure.
We publish this table because people ask us how common divorce is where they live. You won't learn anything here about your own marriage or your next relationship. You will see that people in each state are starting over. If you are one of them, read how to know you're ready to date after divorce or take the free readiness check.
What does a divorce rate per 1,000 residents mean?
A divorce rate per 1,000 residents is the number of divorces for every 1,000 people living in a state. It is not the share of marriages that end in divorce.
- Per 1,000 residents. A rate of 2.4 means 2.4 divorces for every 1,000 people living in the state, counting children and married and unmarried adults alike.
- Where the divorce happened. CDC counts each divorce in the state whose court granted it, even if the couple lived elsewhere.
- Provisional counts. CDC labels these figures provisional. Some states include annulments, and for some counties or states the count includes divorce petitions filed or legal separations. Don't read much into a small gap between states, such as 2.3 versus 2.4.
- Year to year swings. Many states show a dip in 2020 followed by a rebound. Compare several years before you read a trend into one number.
Which state has the highest divorce rate?
Nevada had the highest divorce rate of the reporting states in 2023, at 3.8 per 1,000 residents. Louisiana had the lowest, at 0.9. The table lists 2023 rates per 1,000 residents alphabetically. States with a link have a local guide to dating after divorce.
Which states changed most from 2022 to 2023?
Of the 45 states with a divorce rate in both years, 22 saw the rate fall from 2022 to 2023, 15 saw it rise and 8 held steady. The largest drop, 0.5 per 1,000 residents, came in Arkansas (3.5 to 3.0). The largest rise, 0.4, came in Massachusetts (1.4 to 1.8).
The national count across reporting states went from 673,989 in 2022 to 672,502 in 2023, 1,487 fewer, and the rate held at 2.4 per 1,000 residents. A change of a tenth or two of a point is too small to read as a trend.
How to read your state's number
Kentucky makes a good worked example. Kentucky's 2023 rate of 2.9 means about 29 divorces for every 10,000 people living in the state, children included. The 2022 rate was 3.0, so the year-over-year change is 0.1, too small to call a trend.
Ohio's rate was 2.4 in 2023, the same as in 2022, and it matches the national rate. Indiana sends no divorce counts to CDC, so the table has no Indiana rate for any year.
What this table can't tell you
- How many people are divorced today. The table counts divorces granted in one year. Residents who divorced in earlier years, or in another state, don't show up.
- The odds that a marriage ends. A per-resident rate mixes married and unmarried people, so you can't turn 2.4 into a chance that any one marriage ends in divorce.
- Population effects. A state's rate drops when its population grows and its courts grant the same number of divorces.
- The biggest state. California has not reported a divorce rate since 1990, so the national figure leaves out the most populous state.
Which states don't report divorce rates to the CDC?
California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota and New Mexico did not report divorce counts to the CDC for 2023, so the national rate leaves them out.
- California: the most recent rate in the CDC table is 4.3 per 1,000 residents, from 1990.
- Hawaii: the most recent rate in the CDC table is 3.7 per 1,000 residents, from 2002.
- Indiana: the CDC table has no rate for any year it covers, from 1990 on.
- Minnesota: the most recent rate in the CDC table is 2.8 per 1,000 residents, from 2004.
- New Mexico: the most recent rate in the CDC table is 3.3 per 1,000 residents, from 2015.
Source
State rates: CDC/NCHS, Divorce rates by State: 1990, 1995, and 2000 to 2023. National count and rate: CDC/NCHS, Provisional number of divorces and annulments and rate: United States, 2000 to 2023. Both come from the National Vital Statistics System marriage and divorce page. 2023 is the latest year CDC has published. We update this page when CDC releases a newer table.
This page reports numbers only. For questions about divorce or separation in your own situation, talk to a family law attorney where you live.
State guides to dating after divorce
Local dating scenes, date ideas and places to meet people in the states we cover.
Dating with kids? Start with our guide to single parent dating.