Which Professions Have the Highest and Lowest Divorce Rates?

by | Oct 25, 2017 | Divorce Mediation and Law | 0 comments

My divorce mediation clients come from all different professions, from teachers to high-level corporate VPs.  Are there professions that have higher and lower divorce rates?  A study of U.S. Census data by statistician Nathan Yau seems to indicate that there is.

Here are the 20 professions with the highest divorce rate:

  1. Gaming managers 52.9%
  2. Bartenders 52.7
  3. Flight Attendants 50.5
  4. Gaming Services Workers 50.3
  5. Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, metal and Plastic 50.1
  6. Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service 49.7
  7. Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 49.6
  8. Telemarketers 49.2
  9. Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Operators 48.9
  10. Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 48.8
  11. Telephone Operators 47.8
  12. Massage therapists 47.8
  13. Gaming Cage Workers 47.3
  14. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses 47
  15. First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers 46.9
  16. Dancers and Choreographers 46.8
  17. Dispatchers 46.6
  18. Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Operators 46.5
  19. Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians 46.3
  20. Small Engine Mechanics 46.2

The Institute for Family Studies tried to correlate these professions with income and educational requirements.  These professions are generally lower on both the educational requirements (no requirement or high school diploma) and income scales.  Previous studies showed that lower income people generally marry less and divorce more.

Here are the 20 professions with the lowest divorce rate:

  1. Actuaries 17%
  2. Physical Scientists 18.9
  3. Medical Scientists, and Life Scientists 19.6
  4. Clergy 19.8
  5. Software developers, applications and systems software 20.3
  6. Physical Therapists 20.7
  7. Optometrists 20.8
  8. Chemical Engineers 21.1
  9. Directors, Religious Activities and Education 21.3
  10. Physicians and Surgeons 21.8
  11. Biomedical and agricultural engineers 22
  12. Podiatrists 22.4
  13. Dentists 22.5
  14. Pharmacists 22.6
  15. Military Enlisted Tactical Operations and Air/Weapons Specialists and Crew Members 23
  16. Speech Language Pathologists 23.2
  17. Natural science managers 23.7
  18. Biological Scientists 23.7
  19. Veterinarians 23.9
  20. Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products 24

In the IFS correlation study, these professions usually had much higher income and educational requirements (bachelors or graduate degrees).

The full list can be found here.

Keep in mind that these are correlations and not causations and you are not doomed if you work in a higher divorce rate profession.  It may mean that you need to work harder as a couple on your marriage.

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