Divorce Trends in Oakland County and Across the Country
(Kurt Metzger, Feb. 14, 2025)
Oakland County, MI- A couple of weeks ago, as the Michigan legislature was enacting a higher marriage license fee, I explored marriage trends in Michigan and Oakland County. Data showed that the number of marriages in both the State and Oakland County have been slowly decreasing in recent years. Recent high marks were reached in 2016 when Michigan registered 59,383 marriages and Oakland County registered 7,494. Between 2016 and 2023, the number of marriages has decreased by 15.8 percent in the State and 24.5 percent in Oakland County.
While it took longer than planned, I have now gone back to look at the “flipside” of marriage – divorce.
Let’s start with some basic facts for the United States:
- There are 86 divorces every hour, compared to 230 marriages an hour.
- Marriage and divorce rates in the U.S. are decreasing for a range of reasons.
- Estimates say 41% of first marriages will end in divorce.
- Approximately 60% of second marriages will end in divorce.
- Third marriages end in divorce 73% of the time.
- The average lifespan of a first marriage before divorce is eight years.
- Millennials are waiting to get married and stay married longer, driving the divorce rate lower.
- Sixty-four percent of men and 52% of women will remarry after divorce.
- Couples between 18 and 24 are most likely to split up.
- Gray divorce – persons over 50 – is one of fastest growing age categories.
Nationally, the overall trend in the divorce rate since 2008 has remained downward, despite the slight increase from 2021 to 2022.
The two attached charts show a significant decrease in divorce numbers, for both Michigan and Oakland County, between 2010 and 2015. This was followed by gradual decreases until the big pandemic drop in 2020, when stories described couples living together because they could not afford to divorce. After a brief jump in 2021, divorce numbers returned to pandemic numbers that will probably hold for the near future.
While Michigan’s divorce rate (the number of people whose marriage ended in divorce or annulment per 1,000 population) has historically been about 87 percent that of the nation, its recent drop has brought that share down to only 59 percent. Since 2000, Oakland County’s divorce rate has run just slightly below the state average. In 2023, Oakland County’s divorce rate stood at 3.7, while the state average was 4.1.
While the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) does not provide characteristics for counties, state level data provide a little more information regarding who is divorcing, provided in bullets.
- The average length of first marriages (66.7 percent of 2023 marriages): 10 years, 6 months for males / 10 years, 3 months for females
- The average length of second marriages (20.7 percent of 2023 marriages): 8 years, 10 months for males / 8 years, 7 months for females
- Persons 45 years and over had the highest number of divorces in 2023 – 9,075 men and 7,600 women.
- Persons 35-44 years had the highest rates of divorce in 2023 – 9.9 for men and 10.8 for women.
- Since 2000, the number of Michigan marriages has fallen by 30 percent, while divorces have dropped by 53 percent.
- Since 2000, the number of Oakland County marriages has fallen by 35 percent, while divorces have dropped by 58 percent.
For more stories about the Census and other interesting numbers, visit the Data-Base Stories Archives on Oakland County Times. Thanks to Data Expert Kurt Metzger for this work!
Previous story:
As State Mulls Over License Fee, A Look Marriage Data in Michigan & Oakland County
