This Map Reveals The Divorce Hot Spots

Divorce and separation are painful processes. People get married hoping for a happy lifelong relationship, not a painful split. There are many theories as to why American divorce rates are high and what causes them to fluctuate. The team at Joslyn Law Firm helped us look at a specific aspect of divorce and separation rates: location. They highlighted the cities with the highest and lowest divorce rates and separation rates according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

They found these cities had the highest divorce rates:

1. Medford, Oregon Metro Area
2. Fort Smit, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metro Area
3. Dothan, Alabama
4. Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida Metro Area
5. Charleston, West Virginia
6. Bangor, Maine
7. Pueblo, Colorado
8. Texarkana, Texas-Arkansas Metro Area
9. Kingsport-Bristol, Tennessee – Virginia Metro Area
10. Jackson, Missouri

And these cities have the highest separation rates:

1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas Metro Area
2. Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas Metro Area
3. Lumberton, North Carolina
4. Fayetteville, North Carolina
5. Columbus, Georgia-Alabama Metro Area
6. Jackson, Tennessee
7. Laredo, Texas
8. Monroe, Louisiana
9. Jackson, Missouri
10. El Paso, Texas

Do you see anything that stands out? Maybe some of these areas have factors that strain relationships. It’s speculated that Medford’s rates are high because they have an older population who are more likely to be married.

As for cities with low divorce rates, these came out on top:

1. Provo-Orem, Utah Metro Area
2. Laredo, Texas
3. College Station-Bryan, Texas Metro Area
4. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California Metro Area
5. Merced, California
6. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas Metro Area
7. Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas Metro
8. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, California Metro Area
9. Lancaster, Pennsylvania
10. Yuma, Arizona

And these cities had the lowest separation rates:

1. Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana Metro Area
2. Madison, Wisconsin
3. Portland-South Portland, Maine Metro Area
4. Green Bay, Wisconsin
5. Punta Gorda, Florida
6. Provo-Orem, Utah Metro Area
7. Rochester, Minnesota
8. Wausau-Weston, Wisconsin Metro Area
9. Fort Collins, Colorado
10. Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa-Illinois Metro Area