A review of towns across the U.S. with populations of between 10,000 and 70,000 finds four in Kentucky ranked in the top 20 for divorce.
The survey was conducted by datingnews.com using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Researchers found these Kentucky towns among the top 20:
- Campbellsville – 7th
- Middlesboro – 9th
- Somerset – 12th
- Mount Sterling – 17th
The survey found that every town on the list had a divorce rate of 15 percent or higher, while the U.S. rate in towns this size (called micropolitan statistical areas) is just under 11 percent.
The top divorce rates in mid-size towns
Here are the top 20 towns of between 10,000 and 70,000 people with the highest divorce rates:
- Brookings, Oregon – 20 percent
- Taos, New Mexico – 17.4 percent
- Pahrump, Nevada – 17.2 percent
- McMinnville, Tennessee – 17.1 percent
- Key West, Florida – 16.9 percent
- Connersville, Indiana – 16.8 percent
- Campbellsville, Kentucky – 16.4 percent
- New Castle, Indiana – 16.4 percent
- Middlesborough, Kentucky – 16.3 percent
- Newport, Tennessee – 16.2 percent
- Palatka, Florida – 16.2 percent
- Somerset, Kentucky – 16.2 percent
- Vernon, Texas – 16.2 percent
- Aberdeen, Washington – 16.1 percent
- Fernley, Nevada – 15.9 percent
- Madison, Indiana – 15.8 percent
- Mount Sterling, Kentucky – 15.8 percent
- Richmond, Indiana – 15.7 percent
- Washington Court House, Ohio – 15.7 percent
- Newport, Oregon – 15.6 percent
Divorce is down, cohabitating is up
Time magazine reports that the divorce rate is down from nearly 50 percent to 39 percent. The median age for a first marriage is 30 for men and 28 for women, down from 27 for men and 25 for women in 2003.
Nearly 10 percent of Americans under 25 cohabitate with a partner while only 7 percent are married – 20 years ago those numbers were 5 percent cohabitating and 14 percent married.
Meanwhile, a Brookings Institute analysis shows that while divorce is bad, cohabitation might be worse. There’s a 50-50 chance that a child born to a couple living together was not planned, the study shows, and nearly 80 percent of unmarried parents living together when the baby was born are still living together 15 years later.
If you have questions about divorce or child support, contact an experienced, qualified attorney to help you get all the information you need to make good choices.
