The divorce rate has been slowly declining for the last 20 years, according to CNBC analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For every 10 couples who got married in 2000, there were about five marriages that ended in divorce or annulment that year. In 2021, there were only four divorces for every 10 marriages in the U.S. — a drop of about 20%.
Not all states report annual data to the CDC. In 2021, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota and New Mexico did not report divorces, and in 2000, California, Indiana, Louisiana and Oklahoma did not report divorces.
Of the states that did report marriage data, different parts of the country are seeing different trends, according to the U.S. Census Bureau analyzed by USAFacts. The data suggests that marriages are shorter in western states than in Midwestern or eastern ones.
States with the longest marriages tend to be in the Midwest or are more northern.
People in Utah get married the youngest, the median age being 25.8 years. Those in Washington, D.C. get married the latest, the median age being 31.95, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Washington, D.C. residents are also least likely to be married: only 44.66% of the population has tied the knot.
New York comes in second for least amount of married people, with 66.29% of the population married. The state where the biggest portion of the population is married is Idaho, with 72.6% of people being hitched.
The 10 places in the U.S. with the shortest marriages
- Washington, D.C.: 10.5 years
- Alaska: 16.8 years
- Texas: 17.6 years
- Nevada: 17.7 years
- Utah: 18 years
- Colorado: 18.2 years
- Oklahoma: 18.2 years
- Washington: 18.3 years
- Idaho: 18.6 years
- Georgia: 18.8 years
The 10 U.S. states with the longest marriages
- New Hampshire: 21.5 years
- Maine: 21.8 years
- Pennsylvania: 21.8 years
- South Dakota: 21.8 years
- Iowa: 22 years
- Michigan: 22 years
- Montana: 22.1 years
- Vermont: 22.4 years
- Wisconsin: 22.5 years
- West Virginia: 22.6 years
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