U.S. divorce rate per 1,000 (2000–2023)

What this measures (and doesn’t)

• Measures: divorces & annulments per 1,000 total population (a “crude rate”).
• Doesn’t measure: the probability that a specific marriage ends in divorce (that’s a different statistic).
• Best use: comparing national trend direction over time, not predicting individual outcomes.

Key takeaways

• The divorce rate trends downward across 2000–2023 (roughly from ~4.0 to ~2.4 per 1,000).
• The lowest point in the series is 2020 (pandemic-era disruption).
• Even when the national rate changes, your real decision is local and personal — if you’re stuck, start with a structured decision-making checklist.

Why the 2020 dip?

A drop in 2020 likely reflects COVID-era disruption: court slowdowns/closures, administrative delays, and altered household behavior. That can shift timing of filings and finalizations, not just relationship stability.

Quick context

• This infographic is based on CDC/NCHS (NVSS) tables.
• Divorce counts/rates are based on provisional counts received from state health departments; some states are excluded depending on year (see CDC footnotes).
• If you want to verify the numbers, the PDF source is linked below.