Definition
Number of marriages/divorces per 1,000 persons.Numerator
Number of marriages/divorces.Denominator
Number of persons in population.Why Is This Important?
Marriage/divorce status is an important determinant of the social structure of a population. Studies have confirmed that marital status is among many health risk factors.How Are We Doing?
Current data show the Utah marriage rate fluctuated from 8.5 to 8.0 during the 2009 to 2019 data years. In 2011 the rate peaked at 8.6 and then declined until 2016 when it reached 9.0 and then declined again.
The Utah divorce rate remained fairly consistent for years 2009 through 2011 at the rate of 4.1. Then it dropped to 3.8 in 2012, and continued to drop but peaked back up to 3.8 in 2015, and 2018. There has been a downward trend over the past 30 years with an average rate of 4.2.How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
Over the past 30 years, marriage rates in Utah have been much higher than U.S. rates, but the gap has narrowed consistently since 2006 and the rate difference between Utah and the U.S. has fluctuated in the same range since then.