Sometimes it may seem more likely that you’ll win the lottery than have a lasting marriage.
More and more, the American public is bombarded with news of surprise breakups and cheating spouses, and many people still believe the myth that 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce. But according to a 2014 New York Times article, “The divorce rate peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s and has been declining for the three decades since. […] If current trends continue, nearly two-thirds of marriages will never involve a divorce.”
FindTheHome crunched the numbers to find the states that are leading this trend—who are not listening to the naysayers and skeptics. Here are the 18 states with the lowest percentage of divorced residents (out of the total population).
Note: The data was sourced from the 2013 American Community Survey (5-year estimate).
#18 | Iowa
Percent of divorced residents: 10.7
Population: 3,062,553
#17 | Connecticut
Percent of divorced residents: 10.6
Population: 3,583,561
#16 | North Carolina
Percent of divorced residents: 10.6
Population: 9,651,380
#15 | Wisconsin
Percent of divorced residents: 10.5
Population: 5,706,871
#14 | South Carolina
Percent of divorced residents: 10.4
Population: 4,679,602
#13 | Nebraska
Percent of divorced residents: 10.3
Population: 1,841,625
#12 | Virginia
Percent of divorced residents: 9.9
Population: 8,100,653
#11 | Minnesota
Percent of divorced residents: 9.8
Population: 5,347,740
#10 | Illinois
Percent of divorced residents: 9.8
Population: 12,848,554
#9 | Maryland
Percent of divorced residents: 9.7
Population: 5,834,299
#8 | California
Percent of divorced residents: 9.6
Population: 37,659,181
#7 | Massachusetts
Percent of divorced residents: 9.5
Population: 6,605,058
#6 | Hawaii
Percent of divorced residents: 9.4
Population: 1,376,298
#5 | Pennsylvania
Percent of divorced residents: 9.3
Population: 12,731,381
#4 | Utah
Percent of divorced residents: 9.2
Population: 2,813,673
#3 | North Dakota
Percent of divorced residents: 9.2
Population: 689,781
#2 | New York
Percent of divorced residents: 8.6
Population: 19,487,053
#1 | New Jersey
Percent of divorced residents: 8.5
Population: 8,832,406