County-Level Marriage & Divorce Data 2011-2019

Project Description

The National Center for Family & Marriage Research with the Center for Family & Demographic Research present county-level marriage and divorce counts disaggregated by couple sex (when available) for over 3,000 counties in the United States for the years 2011-2019. 

Suggest Data Citation:

BGSU Marriage and Divorce Data Compass (2023). "County-level marriage and divorce, 2011-2019 [DATA File]." Retrieved from http://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/original-data/county-level-marriage-divorce-data-2011-2019.html

Funding

These data are from work supported by the National Institutes of Health under Grant No. 1R03HD103830 to Krista K. Westrick-Payne at Bowling Green State University. This research was also supported in part by the Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, which has core funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD050959).

Data and Documentation

Machine Readable Files

The county-level marriage and divorce data are provided in multiple file formats, which contains the county-level number of marriages, divorces, state postal abbreviations, and unique county identifiers (county-level FIPS codes) that can be easily appended onto existing data sets.  

Marriage and Divorce Data Sources & Notes

The maps (below) present geographic variation in the adjusted marriage and divorce rates for counties n the United States by quartile. The estimates from county court record data of numbers of marriages and divorces and U.S. American Community Survey 5-yr estimates for 2019. The adjussted marriage rates represent the number of marriages per 1,000 single females. The adjusted divorce rates represent the number of divorces per 1,000 married females.

Workings Papers and Publications

Julian, C. A., Manning, W. D., Westrick-Payne, K. K., Carlson, L. (2022). Prepandemic and pandemic marriages among same-sex and different-sex couples. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231221135968 

Westrick-Payne, K. K., Manning, W. D., & Carlson, L. (2022). Pandemic shortfall in marriages and divorces in the United States. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 8. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231221090192

Manning, W. D. & Payne, K. K. (2021). Marriage and divorce during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A case study of five states. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 7, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231211006976

Conference Presentations and Posters

Westrick-Payne, K. K., Brady, L. A., & Graham, K. L. (2023). "Religious paradox or political divide? The intersention of religion, politics, and place on marriage in the United States." Population Association of America (Oral Presentation), New Orleans, LA.

Westrick-Payne, K. K. (2022). “A Profile of National and State-level Marriage Rates in the U.S., 1880-2019: A Research Note.” Population Association of America (Oral Presentation), Atlanta, GA. 

Westrick-Payne, K. K., Manning, W. D., Carlson, L. (2022). “A Research Note on Marriage and Divorce During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A State-level Analysis.” Population Association of America (Oral Presentation), Atlanta, GA. 

Westrick-Payne, K. K. & Carlson, L. (2022). “Is it the Economy? State-level Adjusted Divorce Rates in the United States.” Population Association of America (Poster Presentation), Atlanta, GA.

Other NCFMR County-level Marriage and Divorce Data

Updated: 12/19/2023 09:46AM