Key figures
- Medford, Oregon, has the highest divorce rate: 15.8% of people aged 15 and over are divorced.
- Provo-Orem, Utah, has the lowest at 5.7%, followed by Laredo, Texas, at 6.8%.
- McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, has the highest separation rate at 3.5%; Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana, the lowest at 0.5%.
- Some places appear on two lists. McAllen and Brownsville, Texas, have low divorce rates but the highest separation rates, and Punta Gorda, Florida, is 13th highest for divorce but fifth lowest for separation.
All figures are from the graphic by Joslyn Law Firm, based on the US Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey.
The four rankings in text
Title: The U.S. Cities with the Highest and Lowest Rates of Divorce and Separation. Introduction: “Based on the one-year estimates of marital status data for people over the age of 15 from the U.S. Census Bureau 2022 American Community Survey of metropolitan and micropolitan areas.” Two maps, “Metro Areas with the Highest and Lowest Divorce Rates” and “Metro Areas with the Highest and Lowest Separation Rates”, mark each ranked area with a numbered circle, orange for highest and teal for lowest.
Metro areas with the highest divorce rates
| Rank | Metro area | Population 15 years and over | Percentage of population who are divorced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medford, OR | 184,923 | 15.8% |
| 2 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | 199,932 | 15.1% |
| 3 | Dothan, AL | 124,829 | 15.1% |
| 4 | Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL | 606,624 | 15% |
| 5 | Charleston, WV | 208,537 | 14.9% |
| 6 | Bangor, ME | 132,210 | 14.9% |
| 7 | Pueblo, CO | 139,571 | 14.7% |
| 8 | Texarkana, TX-AR | 115,796 | 14.7% |
| 9 | Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA | 264,031 | 14.6% |
| 10 | Jackson, MI | 132,411 | 14.6% |
| 11 | Redding, CA | 148,776 | 14.5% |
| 12 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | 539,130 | 14.3% |
| 13 | Punta Gorda, FL | 183,646 | 14.1% |
| 14 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 309,484 | 14% |
| 15 | Reno, NV | 416,648 | 13.9% |
| 16 | Johnson City, TN | 181,322 | 13.9% |
| 17 | Albuquerque, NM | 770,472 | 13.7% |
| 18 | Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ | 216,164 | 13.7% |
| 19 | Carbondale-Marion, IL | 110,988 | 13.6% |
| 20 | Salem, OR | 355,405 | 13.5% |
| 21 | Eugene-Springfield, OR | 328,549 | 13.5% |
| 22 | Terre Haute, IN | 154,233 | 13.4% |
| 23 | Muskegon, MI | 144,708 | 13.3% |
| 24 | Canton-Massillon, OH | 329,719 | 13.1% |
| 25 | Norwich-New London, CT | 227,780 | 13.1% |
Metro areas with the lowest divorce rates
| Rank | Metro area | Population 15 years and over | Percentage of population who are divorced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Provo-Orem, UT | 530,217 | 5.7% |
| 2 | Laredo, TX | 199,635 | 6.8% |
| 3 | College Station-Bryan, TX | 231,333 | 6.9% |
| 4 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | 1,617,261 | 7% |
| 5 | Merced, CA | 222,348 | 7.3% |
| 6 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 661,453 | 7.7% |
| 7 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 325,540 | 7.8% |
| 8 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | 3,868,876 | 8% |
| 9 | Lancaster, PA | 451,159 | 8% |
| 10 | Yuma, AZ | 164,825 | 8% |
| 11 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 16,229,134 | 8.1% |
| 12 | Rochester, MN | 184,220 | 8.1% |
| 13 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 10,718,743 | 8.3% |
| 14 | Fresno, CA | 784,024 | 8.3% |
| 15 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | 363,399 | 8.3% |
| 16 | Athens-Clarke County, GA | 184,394 | 8.4% |
| 17 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | 1,206,861 | 8.5% |
| 18 | Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY | 576,079 | 8.5% |
| 19 | Stockton, CA | 623,207 | 8.6% |
| 20 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 548,161 | 8.6% |
| 21 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 7,768,698 | 8.7% |
| 22 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | 3,728,010 | 8.7% |
| 23 | Bakersfield, CA | 702,224 | 8.7% |
| 24 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 5,192,933 | 8.8% |
| 25 | Salinas, CA | 342,358 | 8.9% |
Metro areas with the highest separation rates
| Rank | Metro area | Population 15 years and over | Percentage of population who are separated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | 661,453 | 3.5% |
| 2 | Brownsville-Harlingen, TX | 325,540 | 3.3% |
| 3 | Lumberton, NC | 92,043 | 3.3% |
| 4 | Fayetteville, NC | 415,487 | 3.1% |
| 5 | Columbus, GA-AL | 259,445 | 3% |
| 6 | Jackson, TN | 147,555 | 3% |
| 7 | Laredo, TX | 199,635 | 2.9% |
| 8 | Monroe, LA | 165,036 | 2.9% |
| 9 | Jackson, MS | 473,413 | 2.8% |
| 10 | El Paso, TX | 685,604 | 2.7% |
| 11 | Yuma, AZ | 164,825 | 2.7% |
| 12 | Burlington, NC | 145,129 | 2.7% |
| 13 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 1,061,504 | 2.6% |
| 14 | Shreveport-Bossier City, LA | 309,484 | 2.6% |
| 15 | Fresno, CA | 784,024 | 2.5% |
| 16 | Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 507,383 | 2.5% |
| 17 | Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | 249,304 | 2.5% |
| 18 | Lawton, OK | 102,104 | 2.5% |
| 19 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | 5,144,871 | 2.4% |
| 20 | Mobile, AL | 347,235 | 2.4% |
| 21 | Macon-Bibb County, GA | 189,924 | 2.4% |
| 22 | Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC | 307,033 | 2.3% |
| 23 | Spartanburg, SC | 280,156 | 2.3% |
| 24 | Kingston, NY | 157,565 | 2.3% |
| 25 | Abilene, TX | 146,308 | 2.3% |
Metro areas with the lowest separation rates
| Rank | Metro area | Population 15 years and over | Percentage of population who are separated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN | 189,618 | 0.5% |
| 2 | Madison, WI | 576,840 | 0.6% |
| 3 | Portland-South Portland, ME | 479,520 | 0.6% |
| 4 | Green Bay, WI | 270,851 | 0.6% |
| 5 | Punta Gorda, FL | 183,646 | 0.6% |
| 6 | Provo-Orem, UT | 530,217 | 0.7% |
| 7 | Rochester, MN | 184,220 | 0.7% |
| 8 | Wausau-Weston, WI | 136,903 | 0.7% |
| 9 | Fort Collins, CO | 312,932 | 0.8% |
| 10 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | 308,970 | 0.8% |
| 11 | Lincoln, NE | 279,394 | 0.8% |
| 12 | Duluth, MN-WI | 246,422 | 0.8% |
| 13 | Jefferson City, MO | 122,452 | 0.8% |
| 14 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 2,996,851 | 0.9% |
| 15 | Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI | 889,509 | 0.9% |
| 16 | Boise City, ID | 659,596 | 0.9% |
| 17 | Colorado Springs, CO | 622,595 | 0.9% |
| 18 | Akron, OH | 584,757 | 0.9% |
| 19 | Ogden-Clearfield, UT | 548,161 | 0.9% |
| 20 | Boulder, CO | 282,460 | 0.9% |
| 21 | Norwich-New London, CT | 227,780 | 0.9% |
| 22 | Topeka, KS | 188,560 | 0.9% |
| 23 | Jackson, MI | 132,411 | 0.9% |
| 24 | Bangor, ME | 132,210 | 0.9% |
| 25 | Terre Haute, IN | 154,233 | 1% |
Footer: Note: Population was used as a tie-breaker for metro areas with the same percentages. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, data.census.gov. Logo: Joslyn Law Firm, Family Law, www.columbusfamilylaw.org.
What the rates measure
The percentages are a snapshot of current marital status, not a count of divorces in a year. Joslyn Law Firm points out that the Census Bureau no longer counts a person as divorced once they remarry, and that the figures are the share of people aged 15 and up who are currently divorced or separated, not the share who have ever been [1]. It gives a national average of 10.5% currently divorced [1].
A divorce rate measured as new divorces gives a different figure. Bowling Green State University’s National Center for Family and Marriage Research, using the same 2022 survey, counted 989,518 women who reported divorcing in the past year, a rate of 14.56 divorces per 1,000 married women. That was a small rise from the 40 year low of 14.0 in 2020 and 2021, and below the 1979 peak of 22.6 [2].
Notes on this infographic
- Lumberton, North Carolina, is a micropolitan area, not a metro area, in the firm’s own table [1]. The graphic lists it with the metro areas.
- The firm’s article differs from the graphic in two places: its text calls Dothan second and Fort Smith third (both 15.1%), and says Provo-Orem has the eighth lowest separation rate. The graphic and the firm’s tables rank Fort Smith second and Provo-Orem sixth [1].
- Survey estimates for smaller areas carry wider margins of error, so areas a tenth of a point apart may not differ in practice.
Questions about divorce rates by city
What city has the highest divorce rate?
Medford, Oregon, where 15.8% of people aged 15 and over were divorced in 2022. Fort Smith, Arkansas and Oklahoma, and Dothan, Alabama, follow at 15.1%.
Which city has the lowest divorce rate?
Provo-Orem, Utah, at 5.7%, followed by Laredo, Texas, at 6.8% and College Station-Bryan, Texas, at 6.9%.
What is the current divorce rate in the United States?
About 10.5% of Americans aged 15 and over are currently divorced, according to the firm’s reading of the Census data [1]. Measured as new divorces, the 2022 rate was 14.56 per 1,000 married women [2].
Sources
- Joslyn Law Firm, The U.S. Cities With the Highest and Lowest Rates of Divorce and Separation. The original post of this graphic.
- Jaden Loo, BGSU National Center for Family and Marriage Research, Divorce Rate in the U.S., Geographic Variation, 2022, Family Profile FP-23-24.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
