Where Illinois Divorce Rate Ranks With Ex-Spouse Day Impending

Fact Checked by Michael Peters

Does love conquer all in the state of Illinois? Or does it conquer all at least most of the time?

The nation’s ever-expanding wedding industry — look at your local newsstand and count the number of bridal magazines — seems to be just fine.

So, it would appear, are most divorce lawyers, whose website traffic might resemble that of Illinois sportsbook apps at times. But maybe the business for those lawyers is not quite as brisk as it used to be?

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What and When Is National Ex-Spouse Day?

The National Day Calendar website, which tracks special days and perhaps in this case not-so-special days, says April 14 is National Ex-Spouse Day. The site says National Ex-Spouse Day “encourages those who have dissolved a marriage to forgive their former spouse and move beyond any anger or bitterness that may remain.”

People are unlikely to purchase gifts for their one-time flame to mark the day, but we wonder how many people contemplate their now-ended marriage and feel the burn.

That’s why the home of the best Illinois sports betting promo codes veered off into a non-sports direction to look at divorce rates in each state and find out where the Land of Lincoln ranks.

States Ranked By Divorce Rate

Rank State Divorce Rate
1Nevada4.2
2Oklahoma3.8
3Wyoming3.7
T4Alabama3.6
T4Arkansas3.6
T6Florida3.4
T6Idaho3.4
T8Kentucky3.3
T8Mississippi3.3
T8Tennessee3.3
T8Utah3.3
12North Carolina3.2
T13Alaska3.1
T13Virginia3.1
15Colorado3.0
T16Missouri2.9
T16North Dakota2.9
T16Washington2.9
T16West Virginia2.9
T20Arizona2.7
T20Maine2.7
T20Oregon2.7
T20Rhode Island2.7
T24Delaware2.6
T24District of Columbia2.6
T24Nebraska2.6
T24New Hampshire2.6
T24Ohio2.6
T29Connecticut2.5
T29Montana2.5
T29South Dakota2.5
T32Pennsylvania2.4
T32South Carolina2.4
T34Iowa2.3
T34Michigan2.3
T34Vermont2.3
T37Georgia2.2
T37Louisiana2.2
T37New Jersey2.2
T37New York2.2
41Wisconsin2.1
42Kansas1.9
43Maryland1.6
44Texas1.4
45Illinois1.3
46Massachusetts1.0
* — NCHS data does not include divorce rates for California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota, or New Mexico.

Illinois Has Second-Lowest Divorce Rate

At IllinoisBet.com we studied statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics to compile a list of states in order of divorce rate, reported as of 2021.

As to the question that we asked at the top of this article? It seems love does conquer all in Illinois!

The state reported the second-lowest divorce rate in the nation at just 1.3 per 1,000 population. Only Massachusetts at 1.0 was lower.

The data has been reported each year from 1999 to 2021. The NCHS website also includes divorce statistics from two earlier years, 1990 and 1995.

In Illinois, the divorce rate has dropped steadily over the past three decades, following a nationwide trend. In 1990 the rate was 3.8 per 1,000 population in the nation’s sixth-most populous state.

The other states among those with the lowest divorce rates are Texas (1.4), Maryland (1.6) and Kansas (1.9).

There is no Illinois sports betting for such stats, of course. But if there were, it would seem that taking the under would be a good idea in these states.

Leading States in Divorce Rates

Nevada is a popular site for weddings, especially Las Vegas. Turns out it’s a popular place for divorces, too.

Nevada’s divorce rate is tops in the nation at 4.3 per 1,000 population as of 2021. Rounding out the top five are Oklahoma (3.8), Wyoming (3.7), Alabama (3.6) and Arkansas (3.6).

One interesting pattern is that there is no pattern in terms of geography. Among the bottom five states in divorce rate are one in New England (Massachusetts), one in the Midwest (Illinois), one in the Mid-Atlantic (Maryland) and two right in the nation’s spine (Texas and Kansas). Among the highest divorce rates are two in the West (Nevada and Wyoming), one in the Deep South (Alabama) and two in the middle (Arkansas and Oklahoma).

Population is no guide either: Texas, Illinois, New York and Georgia are in the bottom 10 for divorce rates, but Florida is in the top 10. Wyoming, the least populous state, ranks in the top five for divorce rate, but Vermont, with the second-lowest population, is tied for 34th.

Statistics were not included for California, Indiana, New Mexico, Hawaii or Minnesota.

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Methodology: These statistics were reported at the National Vital Statistics System portion of the National Center for Health Statistics website. The NCHS site, in turn, falls under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rates were determined by 1,000 total population residing in a state. The data was reported each year from 1999 to 2021. Before that, statistics are given for the individual years of 1995 and 1990.

Author

Jim Tomlin

Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for IllinoisBet.com. He has been a journalist for 30 years, with experience at publications such as the Tampa Bay Times, Saturday Tradition, Saturday Down South and FanRag.

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