Divorce Statistics That May Surprise You

Around 700,000 divorces are filed every year in the United States. That's a lot of people divorcing, and it proves that you're not as alone as you may feel. It might even seem like a shocking number, but divorce rates have actually been declining over the last couple of decades.

Nonetheless, lots of divorces are happening, and the statistics are interesting. And maybe even surprising.

Most Likely To Get Divorced

Those who marry before age 25 have a much higher divorce rate than those who marry after that point. However, there seems to be a sweet spot between age 25 and 32, during which a marriage is least likely to end in divorce. No pressure!

Average Marriage Length

The most typical time couples divorce is around the 8 year mark. It seems that the "seven year itch" may really be a thing?  Years one and two of a marriage are also a vulnerable time, as many people underestimate the amount of work marriage will require. 

The Effect of Money

Married couples who live below the poverty line (currently around income of $20k per year for a two-person household) divorce at higher rates than those above it, not surprisingly. Money appears to have a protective factor to divorce, to a certain extent. Those earning over $200k annually will see a 10% drop in their overall divorce risk from 40% to 30%. The rate drops even lower for those with household income above $600k.

Money issues can be one of the biggest causes of arguments in a marriage, so it's not surprising that we might see some correlation between incomes and rates of divorce.

Is Divorce Contagious?

Statistics show that if you have close friends who are divorcing or divorced, you are more likely to get divorced. Why is this? We know marriages thrive with a strong support network around them. If you or your spouse start seeing divorce as an option with friends' marriages, it can start to look like an appealing option for you.

That's not to say that people take marriage lightly and get divorced just because their friends do. But divorce is scary, and seeing friends go through it may give some people the courage to end an unfulfilling or terrible marriage.

Gray Divorce

Baby boomers have been trendsetters from birth, and they are once again changing things up. In the old days, rates of divorce for those over age 50 were lower than other age groups. But the divorce rate for those over 50 has doubled in the past 25 years. Read all about gray divorce and the special financial considerations in our article here. 

Get the Help You Deserve

Are you already in the midst of your divorce or planning for it? You are not alone. I designed my Divorce Money Guide as a comprehensive guide to get you through your divorce finances from start to finish and launch you into the life you deserve. 

With a step-by-step process, helpful worksheets and checklists, budgeting tools, and more you can feel supported with each decision you are making during this difficult time. Check it out here.

Divorce statistics sourced here: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/divorce/divorce-statistics/