Have you ever wondered if where you live has an impact on your marriage or divorce? That was the goal behind a recently published survey of twenty major cities in the United States. The data uncovers some very interesting facts about relationships and geographic locations. In this article, we will take a closer look at the survey results and point out data specific to Chicago.
How They Did It
The survey, published by Intimate Rose, features twenty different cities within the United States. They include Austin, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, Chicago, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Texas, Denver, Colorado, Fort Worth, Texas, Houston, Texas, Indianapolis, Indiana, Jacksonville, Florida, Los Angeles, California, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Phoenix, Arizona, San Antonio, Texas, San Diego, California, San Francisco, California, San Jose, California, Seattle, Washington, and Washington, DC.
The questions explored within the survey include the following: Do happier cities predict lower rates of divorce? Does the number of relationship therapists lower the chances of divorce? The divorce rates per city’s married population in 2019, Age & Gender: Last Divorced in the United States, The marriage rate per city’s population, and Age & Gender: Last Married in the United States.
The methodology used was straightforward. The most populated cities in the United States were used for the basis of the study. They were determined by US Census Bureau data. Comparisons were made on four different dimensions: marriage rate, divorce rate, Happiest cities in America (according to WalletHub), and the presence of marriage/family therapists.
Marriage/Divorce Rates
Austin tops the list with a marriage rate of 40.00% with a population of 979,263. At the bottom of the list is Columbus (population: 902,073) with a marriage rate of 10.86%. Chicago sits at 7th place. With a population of 2,693,959, the Windy City holds a marriage rate of 33.48%. As for divorces, Jacksonville leads the list with a divorce rate of 11.93% based on a population of 911,528. Columbus once again records the lowest (divorce) rate of 3.52%. Chicago is in 9th place with a divorce rate of 7.66%.
Do Happier Cities Predict Lower Rates of Divorce?
According to WalletHub, the happiest city in America is San Jose with a happiness rating of 69.47. Philadelphia is the least happy with a 45.8 rating. The divorce rate stats tell a slightly different story. Jacksonville has the highest divorce rate of 11.93% and Columbus has the lowest at 3.52%. On the happiest city scale, Jacksonville sits at 14th and Columbus at 13th. Chicago is the 10th happiest city with a 55.65 rating but holds 12th place with a divorce rate of 7.66%.
Does The Number of Relationship Therapists Lower The Chances of Divorce?
The number of therapists per city varies drastically with Jacksonville at one end of the scale with just two and Washington at the far end with 127. That has to make you wonder a bit about what is going on in Washington, doesn’t it? The next-most number is just 55 and that state comes from Seattle. Looking at the divorce rates Columbus has the lowest at 3.52% but has 18 therapists, 12th overall. Jacksonville has the highest divorce rate at 11.93% but only two therapists, or first overall with the least. Chicago has 15 therapists, 10th overall, and a divorce rate of 7.66%, or 12th overall.
Divorce/Marriage Rate Per City’s Married Population (2019)
San Jose has the lowest divorce rate based on the married population with 17.23% with Columbus at the high end with 33.23%. Chicago sits at 7th overall with a divorce rate of 22.89% based on the married population. Looking at marriages based on population, Austin has the most at 40.00% and Columbus the least at 10.86%. Chicago is at 7th place with 33.48%.
Other Findings
The study revealed even more interesting facts related to the marital status of Americans in 2019. For example, about 29 million divorced couples are living in the US which figures out to be roughly 8.93% of the country’s population. More men got married in 2019 than women. The totals were 50.37% and 49.63%. The average age of men last married in 2019 was 35, with women married at 33. The most active age group for marriages in 2019 was 26 to 30 years of age. This age group was also noted as the one most likely to settle down with a love partner as early as 26 years of age.
More women got divorced in 2019 than men. The stats showed 57.09% for women and 42.91% for men. The age group with the highest divorce rate in 2019 was men and women 70 and older at 14.87%. Plus, thousands of couples between the ages of 15 and 25 divorced in the early stages of their marriage. The average age for divorce in 2019 was 55 for men and 56 for women. The divorce population in the US in 2019 increases by 14 individuals every 15 seconds. That figures out to 56 divorces per minute, 3,380 divorces per hour, 81,109 divorces per day, 567,766 weekly, and 2,441,395 monthly.
Unusual Fact of the Survey
In case someone asks you if you could list the top five cities in the US with the most women who have been married three or more times, here is your answer: Houston, New York, Jacksonville, Phoenix, and San Antonio. Oh, and just as a bonus, the average length of first marriages that end in divorce is just five years.
Final Thoughts
As interesting as it is to find out what the state of marriages and divorces is in the United States, for residents of the Chicago area, it is better to know that you live in a place that is relatively stable in that regard. The twenty most-populated cities include Chicago, but the city did not top any of the categories in this survey. Nor did it end up at the bottom of any of the categories. Chicago sat mostly in the middle and the takeaway from that is married and divorced couples in Chicago fit just nicely with all the others who make up the diverse cultural landscape of the Windy City.
