Good news for couples and those who plan to get married.
Divorce rates are at its lowest in 35 years; meanwhile, marriages have gone up a bit since last year, according to data released Thursday.
The National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University measures data from the U.S. Census Bureau every year to determine how many people are getting hitched or divorcing based on demographics.
In 2015, there were 32 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women over the age of 15. Although marriage rates have plummeted since 1970, divorce rates have remained stable, according to BGSU data.
Divorce and marriage rates vary across the U.S., but the data doesn’t show why the numbers change or if it’s based on generations.
“We’ve seen a decline of divorce among people who are younger and an increase among people who are older,” Wendy Manning, co-director of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research told Bloomberg News.
Washington, D.C and Wyoming had the highest divorce rates in the country with 29.9 and 27.9 in 2015. Nevada, Arkansas and Alaska also had high divorce rates, data showed.
Hawaii had the lowest rate at 11.1 followed by Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Delaware and New Jersey.
On the marriage side, Utah had the highest rate of 61 marriages per 1,000 married women since last year, while Rhode Island continued having the lowest rate.
Marriage has declined for the past several years and it could be because millennials wait longer to settle down, which has become the norm.
As for baby boomers, Americans over the age of 50 are getting divorced with higher rates than younger people, according to the research center.
