Red vs. Blue: Divorce

By MannyGoldstein at Thu, 2005-11-17 21:58

Bottom Line:

Surprise! Blue states, led by Massachusetts, have a lower divorce rate than do red states.

Data:

State	Liberality Score [1]	Liberality Rank	Divorce Rate (per 1,000 population) [2]	Divorce Rank
Massachusetts	168%	1	2.4	1
Montana	65%	39	2.6	2
North Dakota	56%	45	2.7	3
Connecticut	124%	6	2.9	4
Maryland	130%	5	3.0	5
New York	146%	4	3.0	5
Iowa	99%	20	3.2	7
Illinois	123%	7	3.2	7
Kansas	59%	42	3.2	7
Wisconsin	101%	19	3.2	7
Pennsylvania	105%	17	3.2	7
Rhode Island	154%	2	3.3	12
Minnesota	107%	15	3.3	12
Oklahoma	53%	46	3.4	14
South Dakota	64%	40	3.4	14
South Carolina	71%	35	3.5	16
New Jersey	114%	13	3.5	16
Nebraska	50%	47	3.7	18
Georgia	71%	34	3.8	19
Hawaii	119%	10	3.8	19
Maine	120%	9	3.9	21
Michigan	107%	16	3.9	21
Vermont	152%	3	4.0	23
Delaware	117%	11	4.0	23
Ohio	96%	22	4.0	23
Alaska	58%	44	4.1	26
Texas	63%	41	4.1	26
Arizona	81%	29	4.2	28
Virginia	85%	27	4.3	29
Missouri	86%	26	4.3	29
Utah	36%	50	4.4	31
North Carolina	78%	30	4.5	32
Washington	116%	12	4.5	32
Oregon	109%	14	4.9	34
New Hampshire	103%	18	5.0	35
New Mexico	98%	21	5.1	36
West Virginia	77%	31	5.2	37
Tennessee	75%	32	5.2	37
Alabama	59%	43	5.3	39
Florida	90%	25	5.4	40
Mississippi	67%	36	5.4	40
Kentucky	67%	37	5.5	42
Idaho	44%	48	5.6	43
Wyoming	42%	49	6.1	44
Arkansas	82%	28	6.6	45
Nevada	95%	23	6.8	46

Discussion:

Surprise! The bluest of the blues, Massachusetts, has the lowest divorce rate in the nation. Blue states make up nine of the top 13, while red states hold the bottom 11 spots. Note that California, Colorado, Indiana and Louisiana no longer report divorce data, so they are not included.

References:

[1] Liberality Score for a state is the ratio of the votes received by Kerry to the votes received by Bush in the 2004 Presidential election. Data from http://uselectionatlas.org/USPRESIDENT/data.php?year=2004&datatype=national&def=1&f=1

[2] from: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923080.html, Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.

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Red vs. Blue: Divorce

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