States with the Highest Rates of Divorce

10. Tennessee
> Divorce rate: 19.1 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 16.5 per 1,000 people (8th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 4.8% (25th highest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $21,173 (6th lowest)

Country music often deals with relationships that went south. So it’s no surprise that the home state of Nashville, country music’s capital city, has a lot of splits. Some 19.1 individuals per every 1,000 married people in Tennessee divorced, the 10th-highest divorce rate of all states. No doubt, a common reason for divorce is financial issues. Perhaps the high divorce rate in Tennessee is attributable to financial stressors, although — realistically — it’s hard to pinpoint  just one cause. Financial stressors, for example, can limit a couple’s ability to go on dates, such as nice dinners or even a trip to the movie theater, which can cause add tension in a relationship. The state’s poverty rate of 15.8% is nearly 2 percentage points higher than the national rate of 14.0%.

9. West Virginia
> # of divorces per 1,000 in past year: 19.2 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 11.4 per 1,000 people (3rd lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 6.0% (4th highest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $19,367 (2nd lowest)

West Virginia has the ninth-highest divorce rate in the country as 19.2 married individuals out of every 1,000 split in 2016. That’s three people ahead of the national figure of 16.2 per every 1,000 married people divorcing that year.

Financial stressors can play a major role in relationship troubles, and West Virginians are more likely to struggle with such issues than residents in most states. The median household income in the state of $43,385 a year is the second lowest in the country. On the plus side, West Virginia’s average wedding price is the second lowest of all states.

8. Montana
> Divorce rate: 19.4 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 14.8 per 1,000 people (23rd highest)
> Unemployment rate: 4.1% (17th lowest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $22,098 (7th lowest)

Montana, a state amid rocky terrain and stunning bodies of water, has one of the highest rates of divorce of all states. The statewide median household income of $50,027 a year is more than $7,500 less than the nationwide median of $57,617. The jobless rate was actually lower than the 2016 national rate of 4.9%, with 4.1% of the workforce in Montana unemployed.

The number of married individuals in Montana is far lower than in most other states, with only 437,550 married people, the eighth-lowest figure nationwide.

7. Wyoming
> Divorce rate: 19.5 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 18.4 per 1,000 people (4th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 5.3% (13th highest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $26,679 (23rd highest)

As the least populous state, Wyoming also has the smallest married population. Of the nearly 600,000 state residents, under 255,000 people were married in 2015. But the state’s divorce rate came in higher than most, with 19.5 married people per 1,000 divorcing in 2016.

Wyoming residents are more likely to have gotten married at some point than almost any other state. It has the lowest percentage of males over 15 years old who have never been married at 30.2%, and the third-lowest percentage of females over 15 years old who have never married at 24.7%.

6. Indiana
> Divorce rate: 19.6 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 16.0 per 1,000 people (11th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 4.4% (21st lowest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $23,912 (16th lowest)

Indiana, home to the century-old Indianapolis 500, has the sixth-highest rate of divorce, with 19.6 per every 1,000 married individuals divorcing in 2016. On the bright side, nearly 40% of Indiana’s population is married, with more than 2.6 million people in a marriage. The median household income of $52,314 a year is more than $5,000 less than the nationwide median income of $57,617, and the unemployment rate of 4.4% was 0.5 percentage points below the 2016 national rate of 4.9%. As is the case in other high divorce states these figures suggest financial stress is a factor for divorce in Indiana.