Marriage and divorce—The compilation
of nationwide statistics on marriages and divorces in the United States began in 1887-88, when the National Office of Vital Statistics prepared estimates for the years 1867-86. Although periodic updates took place after 1888, marriage and divorce statistics were not collected and published annually until 1944 by that office. In 1957 and 1958, respectively, the same office established marriage- and divorce registration areas. Beginning in 1957, the marriage-registration area comprised 30 states, plus Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; it currently includes 42 states and the District of Columbia. The divorce-registration area, starting in 1958 with 14 states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the Virgin Islands, currently includes a total of 31 states and the Virgin Islands. Procedures for estimating the number of marriages and divorces in the registration states are discussed in Vital Statistics of the United States, Vol. III—Marriage and Divorce. Total counts of events for registration and non-registration states are gathered by collecting already summarized data on marriages and divorces reported by state offices of vital statistics and by county offices of registration. The collection and publication of detailed marriage and divorce statistics (for example: by age and race) was suspended beginning in January 1996. For additional information contact the National Center for Health Statistics online at
2004 Divorce Rates by State [PDF]
source: http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/03statab/vitstat.pdf
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