Divorce Rates in the US

1. Headline numbers (most recent year)

Important caveats on these raw CDC counts - The divorce count covers only 45 reporting States + D.C. because several large states (notably California) do not report divorce data to the CDC, so the national figure undercounts the true total. [1][2] - By contrast, Pew Research’s analysis of Census (ACS) data puts the number of Americans who divorced in 2023 at over 1.8 million - a broader, nationally-scaled estimate based on survey responses from all states. [3] The two figures measure different things (CDC = vital records, 45 states; Pew = survey-based national estimate) and should not be quoted interchangeably.

2. The crude divorce rate: long-term trend

• The crude rate has declined from 4.0 per 1,000 in 2000 to 2.4 per 1,000 in 2023 - nearly cut in half. [2]
• The crude rate peaked near 5.3 per 1,000 in the late 1970s-early 1980s, before the multi-decade decline. [2 for trend; peak is CDC historical series]

3. The refined divorce rate (a better measure)

The refined divorce rate divides the number of divorces by the number of married women ages 15 and older, × 1,000. It corrects for the declining share of people who are married, which the crude rate does not. [3]

Key finding: By the refined measure, divorce has been declining since the early 1980s, falling from 22.6 (1980) to 14.4 (2023). [3] Pew attributes much of the decline to composition: the married population has shifted toward more-educated adults, who are less likely to divorce. [3]

4. Marriage-to-divorce ratio (2023)

Using the two CDC figures directly: 672,502 divorces ÷ 2,041,926 marriages ≈ 1 divorce per 3.0 marriages, or about 33%. [1][2] (Derived by simple division.)

Caveat (flagged): This ratio is only approximate. The marriage count is national while the divorce count covers 45 reporting States + D.C., so direct division understates the true divorce share. Use the “~33% (roughly 1 in 3)” ratio with this caveat. [1][2]

5. The claim that “50% of marriages end in divorce” - CONTESTED / MYTH

Status: The blanket 50% figure is outdated and is flagged as inaccurate for current marriages.

What the data actually shows: - Only about one-third (33%) of Americans who have ever been married reported that their first marriage ended in divorce (2023). [3] - Measured by marriage cohort - i.e., people who actually married in a given decade - the shares who divorced are: 1960s marriages: 42%, 1970s: 47%, 1980s: 46%, and lower for marriages since the 1990s, as of 2023. [3] - Pew explicitly cautions the “one-third ever-married” figure is not the same as “33% of marriages fail,” because it includes people who are currently married and may still divorce in the future. [3] - The 50% figure is a relic of projections made in the 1970s during a divorce-rate surge; current crude (2.4/1,000), refined (14.4/1,000), and ever-divorced ~33%) measures all fall well below it. [1][2][3]

[Myth] “Half of all marriages end in divorce” - not accurate as a blanket statement for marriages happening today

6. Divorce by age / cohort / demographics

• Ever-divorced share by first-marriage cohort (2023): 1960s = 42%, 1970s = 47%, 1980s = 46%, 1990s-and-later = lower (may rise as those cohorts age). [3]
• By education (ever-married who divorced): bachelor’s degree or more = 25%; high school or less = 37%; some college = 41%. [3]
• By race/ethnicity (ever-married who divorced): Black = 41% (highest), Asian = 16% (lowest). [3]
• By nativity: U.S.-born = 36%; foreign-born = 22%. [3]
• Gray divorce (adults 50+, divorces per 1,000 married women 50+): +3.9 (1990) → 11.0 (2008) → 10.3 (2023). Gray divorce rose sharply from 1990 to 2008 and has since leveled off — also the one exception to the overall decline. [3]
• Duration of marriages that end in divorce (2023): 16% ended within 5 years; another 24% within 5-9 years (40% within the first decade); 22% lasted 25+ years. Median duration rose from 10 years (2008) to 12 years (2023). [3]

7. Marriage timing and remarriage

• Median age at first marriage (2025): 30.8 years for men, 28.4 for women (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey) [4].
• Remarriage: about two-thirds (66%) of Americans who have divorced have gone on to remarry; men are slightly more likely to remarry than women (68% vs. 64%) [3].

Sources

[1] CDC/NCHS FastStats — Marriage and Divorce - overall latest-year figures [2] CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System provisional marriage & divorce rates, 2000-2023 — PDF [3] Pew Research Center — 8 facts about divorce, marriage and remarriage in the United States (Oct 2025) [4] U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey — Figure MS-2: Median age at first marriage.