Divorce rate

The divorce rate in the United States is estimated at 2.36 divorces per 1,000 people in 2025, marking a 2.8% decline from the previous year. This decrease continues a downward trend largely driven by declining marriage rates. As more adults embrace nontraditional lifestyles such as cohabitation and raising children outside of marriage, the pool of individuals at risk of divorce shrinks. With an estimated 33.0% of adults having never been married, the base for both marriages and divorces is constrained.

From 2020 to 2025, the divorce rate was influenced by pandemic-related disruptions and broader demographic changes. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 14.8% drop in the divorce rate, as health and economic uncertainties caused many to postpone marriage and divorce. The rate rebounded by 8.7% in 2021 as the economy recovered and social activity increased. Subsequent years saw volatility: a 4.0% decline in 2022, a 4.0% rebound in 2023, and a 2.7% decline in 2024. Shifting cultural norms also played a crucial role. A growing proportion of highly educated women, who have lower divorce rates, and a trend toward later marriages reduced the baseline risk for divorce. Studies show teenage marriages are more likely to end in divorce, explaining lower rates as the average marriage age rises.

Structural factors, like the rise in cohabitation over marriage, have constrained marriage and divorce rates. Recent data shows 28.0% of adults aged 25 to 54 who have never been married now live with a partner, reflecting broader acceptance of cohabitation. Increased economic security and educational attainment among women, coupled with delayed marriage, have reduced exposure to early divorces. Macroeconomic trends outside sharp recessionary effects had an unclear but generally stabilizing impact on the divorce rate, with income disruptions dampening expensive divorce proceedings but heightened household stress still influencing marital discord. From 2020 to 2025, these trends fostered a consistent decline in the divorce rate, with low volatility as social attitudes and family formation patterns evolved.