New census survey data that show Utah has among the nation’s highest marriage rates, and that first marriages here endure longer than almost anywhere. The data also show a higher-than-average divorce rate here.
The data was released Thursday in a study, Marital Events of Americans, 2009, by the U.S. Census Bureau, based on its annual American Community Survey. It reported that marriage rates in Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota are the highest in the nation, and not significantly different than each other. It estimated that Utah had 29.6 marriages per every 1,000 men in 2009, and 26.7 marriages per every 1,000 women. Utah and Wyoming also have the longest-enduring first marriages among the states. The median for the length of current first-marriages among Utah women was 23.6 years.
The new data, however, also say that divorce rates in Utah are higher than average. They say 10.2 divorces occurred in 2009 per 1,000 Utah men, compared to a national rate of 9.2. And they say 10.8 occurred per 1,000 Utah women, compared to 9.7 nationally. Salt Lake Tribune
