"'Utah Divorces Top U.S. Rate--Utah had 6,160 divorces during 1975, or 5.1 per 1,000 population, compared with an estimated national rate of 4.8 per 1,000 persons...consistently higher than the national average,..'"
"More recent statistics indicate that the situation in Utah has not improved. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, January 11, 1990, 'Utah's divorce rate is 5.4 per 1,000 persons, compared to 4.8 nationally.'"
- Larry Hall, Stop Hurting My Children!, Sword of the Spirit Apologetics
See also
- We�re Christians Too!, Let Us Reason Ministries
- Michael Cranford, Why I�m Not A Mormon, Sundoulos
- Latter-day Saints Are People, Too: Is Mormonism in Utah really working?, The Watchman Expositor 7(4)
"Social statistics from Utah, for example, show that places where Mormonism is strongest have higher rates of divorce...."
- James R. Spencer, Why I Love Mormons, but not Mormonism, Take a Stand! Ministries
"Their...divorce rates are above the Western US average."
- John L. Smith, The Truth About Mormonism, The Ministry of John L. Smith
"In spite of the Mormon church's stress on family values in their television ads, the [rate] of...divorce...in Utah [is] above the United States average...."
- Richard Lloyd Measures, Holy Hooks
"Utah...has one of the highest divorce rates in the nation."
- Mark A. Taylor, Sin & Death in Mormon Country: A Latter-day Tragedy, Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons
- Derick S. Hartshorn, Bearing the Testimony of Truth, Saints Alive in Jesus
| Statistics in Utah still reflect a discouraging social atmosphere | ||||
Divorces per 1,000 Population |
Utah 4.60 |
Mass. 2.40 |
New York 3.20 | New Jersey 3.0 |
"Utah...is always in the top 3 in the USA in divorce rates...."
- Neal Humphrey, A Salt Lake City Ex-Mormon Presbyterian Minister's Take On LDS Growth, Latter-day Lampoon
"Mormons boast of a superior morality, but in 1988 Utah's divorce rate topped California's. Yuppie Massachusetts' divorce rate is 2.8 per thousand, and Utah's is 5.1 per thousand."
- Jerry Huffman, ed., Calvary Contender 11(21)
"The divorce rate is higher than the national average...."
- Waana, Reasons Why The Mormon Church Is Not True, posted on Recovery from Mormonism, 5/18/2002
Figure 1 shows the divorce rates for Utah and the United States. Rates are the number of divorces and annulments per 1,000 residents.
Table 1. State divorce rates for the United States, and Massachusetts', New York's, New Jersey's, and Utah's rates and ranks, 1992-2000.
| Year | High | Average | Low | Massachusetts | New Jersey | New York | Utah | Western U.S.* | States reporting |
| 1992 | 7.7 AK | 4.8 | 2.8 MA | 2.8 (46th) | 3.2 (43rd) | 3.2 (44th) | 5.3 (19th) | 5.8 | 46 |
| 1993 | 7.1 OK | 4.6 | 2.7 MA | 2.7 (46th) | 3.1 (43rd) | 3.1 (44th) | 4.7 (23rd) | 5.5 | 46 |
| 1994 | 9.0 NV | 4.6 | 2.4 MA | 2.4 (47th) | 3.0 (45th) | 3.3 (43rd) | 4.7 (25th) | 5.7 | 47 |
| 1995 | 8.1 NV | 4.4 | 2.2 MA | 2.2 (46th) | 3.0 (44th) | 3.1 (43rd) | 4.5 (25th) | 5.7 | 46 |
| 1996 | 10.0 NV | 4.3 | 2.0 MA | 2.0 (45th) | 3.1 (44th) | 3.4 (37th) | 4.6 (21st) | 5.5 | 45 |
| 1997 | 10.4 NV | 4.3 | 2.6 MA | 2.6 (46th) | 3.2 (44th) | 3.6 (35th) | 4.4 (25th) | 5.6 | 46 |
| 1998 | 8.5 NV | 4.3 | 2.5 NY | 2.7 (45th) | 3.1 (43rd) | 2.5 (46th) | 4.2 (24th) | 5.3 | 46 |
| 1999 | 8.3 NV | 4.2 | 1.7 CT | 2.1 (45th) | 3.1 (41st) | 3.4 (35th) | 4.4 (22nd) | 5.1 | 46 |
| 2000 | 9.0 NV | 4.1 | 1.9 CT | 2.9 (44th) | 3.0 (41st) | 3.3 (34th) | 4.3 (20th) | 4.9 | 46 |
The following map shows how divorce rates vary across the country.
Figure 2. State divorce rates, 1997-2000 average
The following statistics are reported by Adherents.com.
"The divorce rate for Mormons who marry within their faith is 13% after five years, compared to 20% for Catholics and Protestants, and 27% for Jews. Among LDS couples who marry in a temple, the divorce rate is only 5.4% for men and 6.5% for women -- lower than any other social or religious group in the United States that has been studied."However the divorce rate for Mormons who marry non-Mormons is 40%, the second highest among interfaith combinations studied."
Divorce rates for Utah were obtained from the following sources:
1940-49: Utah Department of Health, Utah's Vital Statistics: Births and Deaths, 1999. Calculated from Table 1, p. S-3.
1950-99: Ibid. Table 2, p. S-5.
2000: see below
State divorce counts were obtained from the following sources:
1992-93: Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths for 1994. Monthly Vital Statistics Report 43(12). 1995. Table 3, p. 12.
1994: Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths for 1995. MVSR 44(12). 1996. Table 3, p. 8.
1995: Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths for 1997. MVSR 46(12). 1998. Table 3, p. 8.
1996: NVSR 47(21). 1999. Table 3.
1997: NVSR 48(19). 2001. Table 3
1998-2000: NVSR 49(6). Table 3-12.
State divorce rates were then calculated based on U.S. Census Bureau population estimates from the following sources:
1992-99: State Population Estimates: Annual Time Series, July 1, 1990 to July 1, 1999
2000: Time Series of State Population Estimates: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2001