It is often said that half of all marriages end in divorce, but the results of a recent study suggest that couples in New Jersey are bucking this trend. Researchers from an online real estate portal looked at marriage and divorce data from around the country, and they found that almost half of adults living in the Garden State have been married for an average of 20.6 years. New Jersey also appears to have an unusually high number of unmarried couples as only 10.3% of the state’s adult residents are either single or divorced according to the survey.
Marriage score
After gathering data from sources including the 2020 census and the Bureau of Labor statistics, the researchers gave each state a marriage score. New Jersey ranked seventh on that list largely because there are only 3.19 weddings in the state for every 1,000 residents. States including Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Nebraska ranked higher than New Jersey primarily because of this factor. However, New Jersey did emerge as one of the states with the lowest divorce rate. According to the study, New Jersey, Utah and South Dakota all have divorce rates of 10.%.
Couple appeal
The study also reveals that New Jersey is one of the states that married couples from other parts of the country would like to move to. The researchers determined couple appeal by awarding each state an overall wellbeing score and then factoring in the cost of getting married as a percentage of annual income. New Jersey emerged as the seventh most attractive state for relocating couples behind Hawaii, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Washington and Oregon.
Quality time
It is not surprising that couples tend to stay married longer and divorce less often in states that provide their residents with a high quality of life. New Jersey is an attractive relocation option for couples from around the country, but it has fewer wedding ceremonies each year than many other states, and many of its couples have chosen not to walk down the aisle.