States with the Lowest Rates of Divorce

10. Iowa
> Divorce rate: 14.1 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 12.9 per 1,000 people (11th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 3.7% (10th lowest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $24,182 (18th lowest)

Iowa has the 10th-lowest divorce rate, with only 14.1 per every 1,000 married individuals divorcing in the past year. The state’s unemployment rate is quite low at 3.7%, considering the 2016 nationwide rate is 4.9%. The median household income is smack dab in the middle, the 25th lowest of all the states at $56,247 a year, just a little over $1,000 below the nationwide median of $57,617, so financial stress is no more or less than other states.

9. Wisconsin
> Divorce rate: 14.0 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 13.4 per 1,000 people (19th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 4.1% (17th lowest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $26,462 (25th highest)

Wisconsin has one of the lowest divorce rates in the nation, with 14.0 married individuals out of 1,000 getting a divorce in 2016. Separation often precedes a divorce. Often, married couples who are having problems decide to spend some time apart before opting for a divorce. And there’s good reason to suspect the state will stay on the low end of divorce figures. Wisconsin has the lowest percentage of males 15 and older who are separated, at just 0.9% of that population. It also has the second lowest percentage of females 15 and older who are separated at 1.0%.

8. Illinois
> Divorce rate: 13.9 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 13.0 per 1,000 people (12th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 5.9% (6th highest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $28,413 (19th highest)

Like most states, Illinois has plenty of married couples, with 5.1 million married people of the state’s population of 12.8 million. Contrary to the other states with the lowest divorce rates, the state’s 2016 unemployment rate of 5.9% surpassed the nationwide rate by a full percentage point. This disparity doesn’t seem to wreak any havoc on people’s marriages in Illinois. The median household income of $60,960 actually rises above the nationwide figure of $57,617. The state has the eighth-lowest rate of divorces with only 13.9 people divorcing in the past year for every 1,000 married individuals.

7. Vermont
> Divorce rate: 13.3 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 11.1 per 1,000 people (the lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 3.3% (7th lowest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $32,120 (11th highest)

Vermont had the fewest total of people who got a divorce of any state in 2016. Only 3,504 married people in Vermont split last year. That’s largely because of the state’s low population. Vermont had fewer than 265,000 married individuals in 2016, the second-lowest of all 50 states.

Though Vermont had a low divorce rate in 2016, it has a high percentage of residents who are already divorced. Some 14.7% of females over 15 years old in Vermont are divorced, the fourth-highest share in the U.S.

6. South Dakota
> Divorce rate: 12.9 per 1,000 married people
> Marriage rate: 15.0 per 1,000 people (21st highest)
> Unemployment rate: 2.8% (2nd lowest)
> Avg. wedding cost: $23,047 (12th lowest)

South Dakota’s state slogan is “Great Faces, Great Places” because of Mount Rushmore. But maybe it should add “great marriages” as well. The divorce rate is quite low, with only 12.9 per every 1,000 married individuals divorcing in the past year. The jobless rate in South Dakota is 2.8%, the second lowest in the nation, so a percolating economy means less financial stress for residents.

More than half of males and females over 15 in South Dakota are married and not separated, one of very few states where that’s the case.