SAN DIEGO, CA – August 10, 2026 – PRESSADVANTAGE –

This report, distributed by JWB Family Law, examines new federal data showing that the ratio of marriages to divorces in the United States reached its highest level since 2008, according to a family profile published by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.

The center’s analysis of 2024 Census Bureau data found 2,390,482 marriages and 986,810 divorces nationwide, a ratio of 2.42 marriages for every divorce. That figure is up from a ratio of 2.38 in 2023 and represents the largest ratio recorded since the American Community Survey began tracking recent marriage and divorce experience in 2008.

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The ratio held relatively steady between 2015 and 2021, ranging from 2.10 to 2.16, before climbing over the past several years, according to the same research center, which has tracked the measure annually using Census Bureau survey data.

The center separately reported that the refined divorce rate, a measure of divorces per 1,000 married women, fell to 14.2 in 2024, down from 14.4 in 2023 and roughly 37 percent below the rate’s peak of 22.6 in 1980.

Researchers who study these trends have noted that the widely repeated claim that half of all marriages end in divorce no longer reflects current data. Separate analysis of federal survey data has found that roughly 41 percent of first marriages end in divorce, below that older estimate.

Researchers have also pointed to a rising share of so-called gray divorces, meaning divorces among people age 50 and older. That group accounted for about 36 percent of all U.S. divorces in recent data, up from under 9 percent in 1990, according to research from Bowling Green State University and separate analysis from the Pew Research Center.

The center’s data show wide regional variation in the ratio. States in the Midwest and West were more likely to post high marriage-divorce ratios in 2024, with roughly three in ten states in each region falling in the top quartile nationally. Southern states, by contrast, clustered toward the lower end, with 41 percent falling in the bottom quartile, according to the same report.

Every state recorded more marriages than divorces in 2024, the center found, though the size of that gap varied widely. Washington, D.C., Idaho, Utah, Kansas, and New Jersey posted the highest ratios in the country, while Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Delaware posted the lowest.

The rise in gray divorce has drawn recent attention beyond academic circles. Susan L. Brown, a Bowling Green State University sociologist who co-directs the research center, was recently featured on The Oprah Podcast to discuss her research on divorce among people age 50 and older, a trend the center has tracked for more than a decade.

The marriage and divorce data referenced in this release were compiled by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, based on U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey figures for 2024. The figures are presented here for general public awareness and reflect the most recent full-year national data available at the time of this report.

JWB Family Law is a San Diego-based family law firm led by Jane Wesley Brooks, a Certified Family Law Specialist, that represents clients in divorce cases in San Diego and the surrounding region, with additional offices in Temecula and El Centro.

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For more information about JWB Family Law, contact the company here:

JWB Family Law
Jane Wesley Brooks
619-234-6123
jane@jwbfamilylaw.com
2650 Camino Del Rio N, Suite 305
San Diego, CA 92108

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