Alabama Has 3rd Highest Divorce Rate In The Country: Report

WASHINGTON, DC — Alabama, where politicians boast of the state's "family values," is actually among the states with the highest rates of divorce, according to a recent study.

LendingTree analyzed marriage and divorce data from 2016-2017 and 2007-2008 to find the states with the highest and lowest rates of divorce and the states where divorce rates are decreasing the most.

Alabama had the third highest rate of divorce in the country, the study found.

Some of the findings on Alabama included:

• Alabama has the 3rd highest divorce rate in the country at 2.1 percent.
• Between 2016 and 2017 1,949,364 were married and 40,994 got divorced
• Alabama ranks 18th among states with the largest decrease in divorce rates

In general, the South has some of the highest divorce rates in the country. Six of the top 10 states with the highest divorce rates lie in the South.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama and West Virginia were the states with the highest rate of divorce. Hawaii, New York, Illinois, New Jersey and Vermont have the lowest divorce rate in the country.

Across the board, the LendingTree study revealed that the number of divorces has dropped. This may be attributed to lower marriage rates altogether, as well as people marrying later in life. Data suggests that marrying later leads to a lower chance of divorce. Add on that millennials are putting off marriage until later, and divorce rates could continue to decline.