Marriages down nationwide; Alabama records one of highest divorce rates

Published 7:13 am Monday, February 13, 2023

A national insurer has been keeping up with marriage and family statistics for several years, finding some interesting facts. Nationally, marriages are down, but divorces are down even more. However, Alabama’s divorce rate is second in the country, behind California.

QuoteWizard®, a LendingTree company, and one of the nation’s leading online insurance marketplaces, released a new report on the declining number of marriages nationwide.

QuoteWizard found that the number of people getting married has dropped by eight percent since 2011. The number of people getting divorced, meanwhile, has dropped by 17 percent over the last decade.

“We found a drop in both marriages and divorces nationwide. Indicating that while fewer people are getting married, those who do are staying together,” said Nick VinZant, senior research analyst with QuoteWizard.

QuoteWizard’s team of analysts found that nationwide, 49 percent of people are married, 11 percent of people are divorced and 33 percent of people have never been married. The number of people who are married or divorced varies from state-to-state by as much as 10 percent.

Key findings:

  • West Virginia, Arkansas and Maine have the highest percentages of divorces.
  • Utah, Idaho and Wyoming have the highest percentages of marriages.
  • More than 33 percent of people — or one in three — have never married.
  • Men who earn over $100,000 a year are the most likely to be married.
  • Women who earn $75,000 to $100,000 a year have the highest divorce rate.

QuoteWizard’s report also found that while the majority of states are seeing a decrease in marriage, four states are seeing an increase. Marriages increased by as much as 7 percent in Mississippi, Colorado, Utah and Montana.

The full report is available here.