Latter-day Saint Marriage & Divorce Statistics

Is the divorce rate of Latter-day Saints higher or lower than non-Latter-day Saints?

Lower, at least in the United States.[1] Multiple studies[2] and survey datasets[3] have found that Latter-day Saints tend to have some of the lowest divorce rates compared to both religious and non-religious Americans (see below).[4]

Research studies related to Latter-day Saint marriage and divorce statistics

Year of Study/Analysis	Study/Analysis	Summary of Relevant Findings
1985[5]	Review of Religious Research, June 1985, Vol 26, No.4 "Religion and Family Formation," Family and Demographic Research Institute, Brigham Young University	Latter-day Saints (Male 14.3%, Female 18.8%) had the lowest percentage of ever married persons who have ever been divorced. Catholics (Male 19.8%, Female 23.1%), Liberal Protestants (Male 24.4%, Female 30.8%), Conservative Protestants (Male 27.7%, Female 30.9%), None (Male 39.2%, Female 44.7%).
1993[6]	Demography, 1993, Vol. 30, No. 3 "Religion as a Determinant of Marital Stability," Economics Department, University of Illinois at Chicago	Latter-day Saint marriages had the lowest probability (13%) of marriage dissolution. Catholic (20%), Jewish (27%), Other Religion (13%), No Religion (36%), ecumenical Protestant (20%), and Exclusivist Protestant (19%).
2009[7]	American Religious Identification Survey [ARIS 2008], Summary Report, March 2009 Trinity College	Latter-day Saints had the second-lowest percentage (9%) of divorced/separated in 2008. U.S. national average of divorced/separated in 2008 was 13%. 'Nones' were at 11%. All other surveyed religions were 10% and above. Those who identified as Jewish had the lowest percentage (8%).
2010[8]	Shield of Faith, Deseret Book, 2010 BYU Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University	Returned-missionary men had a divorce rate of 9%; returned-missionary women had a divorce rate of 15%. Non-returned-missionary Latter-day Saint men had a divorce rate of 29%, while U.S. men nationally had a rate of 38%. Non-returned-missionary Latter-day Saint women had a rate of 21%, while U.S. women nationally had a rate of 48%.
2021[9]	"From the Mouth of Two or Three Surveys," Times and Seasons, October 23, 2021	28% of Latter-day Saints had been divorced. 42% of nonmembers had been divorced.
2021[10]	"Are Latter-day Saint Marriages More Stable?" Times and Seasons, October 19, 2021	9% of Latter-day Saints identified as divorced. Catholics (15%), Buddhists (16%), Evangelical Protestants (17%), Historically Black Protestants (30%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (15%), Jews (12%), Mainline Protestants (15%), Muslims (15%), Orthodox Christians (13%), and Unaffiliated (17%).
2024[11]	"We sent out 80,000 postcards to Latter-day Saints in the U.S. Here’s what we learned," Deseret News, January 31, 2024	The divorce rate for temple marriages is 3 times lower than the national divorce rate.
2024[12]	"Applying Moral Foundations Theory to current and former Latter-day Saints," Deseret News, February 16, 2024	20% of former Latter-day Saints are married to believing members of the Church. 30% of former Latter-day Saints are married to other former Latter-day Saints. Former Latter-day Saints are twice as likely to have been divorced than Latter-day Saints. Former Latter-day Saints are more than four times less likely to have had their marriages sealed in the temple compared with current Latter-day Saints.

What about outside of the United States?

There is less information internationally. One study suggested that in some countries, Latter-day Saints may have higher divorce rates than average.[13] In general, various cross-national datasets have suggested that weekly church attenders (not specifically Latter-day Saints) are less likely to have been divorced than those who only attend sometimes or not at all.[14]

What is the divorce rate of temple marriages?

It's unknown. Estimates range from 6% to 30%.[15][16]

Is the average age of marriage of Latter-day Saints higher or lower than non-Latter-day Saints?

Probably lower. Various studies have concluded that Latter-day Saints get married younger than non-Latter-day Saints, at least in the U.S.[17] Surveys suggest that the average age of marriage for U.S. Latter-day Saints is around 22 to 23.[18]

Is it common for Latter-day Saints to marry outside of their faith?

Not really. About 12% of Latter-day Saints are interfaith marriages, according to a 2001 survey.[19] Researchers have found that interfaith marriages for Latter-day Saints rank amongst the lowest in the U.S.[20]

Is there any data about the happiness of Latter-day Saint marriages?

Not a lot. One blog post analyzed U.S. General Social Survey data and found that members of the Church reported higher marital happiness than non-members.[21] Another dataset compared Latter-day Saint marital satisfaction to other faith traditions (including "Nones") and found that Latter-day Saints had comparatively high marital satisfaction.[22]

Other studies found that American weekly church attenders in general (not specifically Latter-day Saints) tended to have higher marital satisfaction.[23]

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Footnotes

[1]↩︎
Several older studies found that members of the Church had lower divorce rates than their non-Latter-day Saint counterparts. A Church-sponsored study from about 40 years ago used Church membership lists and found that members were less likely to divorce than non-members.
However, the same researcher in charge of this study analyzed data collected by third parties and found, in those datasets, that members were more likely to divorce. He suspected that the Church study may have had a harder time finding less active or single members.
A team of BYU researchers using other self-identification data from large surveys also confirmed that Latter-day Saints report lower divorce rates in the United States. However, non-U.S. Latter-day Saints reported higher rates than Latter-day Saints from the U.S.
[2]↩︎
A 1993 study found that the five-year probability of divorce for Latter-day Saints was only 13%, the lowest of any religious group, with a rate of 36% for non-religious people.
Another 2009 study using a large sample of returned missionary Latter-day Saint men found that by the time they were 40 about 9% had divorced, compared to 38% of men nationally. Then for women, these numbers were 15% and 45% nationally.
A large 2009 study of religious identification found that Latter-day Saints were the second least likely to report their current marital status as divorced (9% versus 13% for the general population).
[3]↩︎
After removing the "never married" individuals from Pew's 2014 survey sample, data scientist Stephen Cranney found that "Latter-day Saints have a lower percentage divorced (9%) than all of the other religious groups . . . except for Hindus (7%)."
Relying on the General Social Survey (2004–2018), Cranney also reported, "Of those who have ever been married in the survey, 28% of members have been divorced at some point, while 42% of non-members have been divorced."
- Cranney analyzes the GSS data on Latter-day Saint divorce; LDS get divorced less than non-LDS.
- Cranney analyzes Pew's 2014 data on Latter-day Saint divorce; LDS less likely to get divorced than non-LDS.
[4]↩︎
While less focused on Latter-day Saints specifically, a 2021 report found that women with "a non-Christian religious upbringing" (including Mormons) were less likely to cohabitate before marriage and had a lower annual probability of divorce.
Religious attendance, in general, has been found to mitigate divorce. A 2018 study found that U.S. "nurses who attended religious service more than once per week had a 50% lower likelihood of subsequent divorce or separation."
- Research brief finds that women with religious upbringing are less likely to cohabitate and divorce than those with irreligious upbringing; non-Christian religions (Mormons) even less likely.
- Study finds that U.S. "nurses who attended religious service more than once per week had a 50% lower likelihood of subsequent divorce or separation."
[5]↩︎
From Tim Heaton and Kristen Goodman's "Religion and Family Formation."
- Heaton and Goodman's Church study that is the source of the popular 6% divorce statistic for temple marriages.
[6]↩︎
From Evelyn L. Lehrer and Carmel U. Chiswick's "Religion as a Determinant of Marital Stability."
- Study by non-LDS demographer shows low LDS divorce rates.
[7]↩︎
From the American Religious Identification Survey [ARIS 2008] summary report.
- Report summarizes findings of large religion survey and finds that Latter-day Saints have low divorce rates.
[8]↩︎
From Bruce A. Chadwick, Brent L. Top, and Richard J. McClendon's Shield of Faith.
- Study showing that returned missionaries have low divorce rates.
[9]↩︎
From Stephen Cranney's analysis of the General Social Survey (2004-2014) on the Times & Seasons blog.
- Cranney analyzes the GSS data on Latter-day Saint divorce; LDS get divorced less than non-LDS.
[10]↩︎
From Stephen Cranney's analysis of 2014 Pew data on the Times & Seasons blog.
- Cranney analyzes Pew's 2014 data on Latter-day Saint divorce; LDS less likely to get divorced than non-LDS.
[11]↩︎
The 2023 Current and Former Latter-day Saint Survey from the B. H. Roberts Foundation surveyed 2,625 members and 1,183 former members.
- Coates and Cranney report that the temple marriage divorce rate is three times lower than the United States national divorce rate.
[12]↩︎
The 2023 Current and Former Latter-day Saint Survey from the B. H. Roberts Foundation surveyed 2,625 members and 1,183 former members.
- Coates and Cranney report that former Latter-day Saints are twice as likely to have been divorced than Latter-day Saints.
- Coates and Cranney report several former Latter-day Saints marriage statistics.
[13]↩︎
Specifically, this study showed higher identification as divorced in Chile, Brazil, and Mexico, with the Philippines showing no difference. The studies showing higher rates of divorce internationally conjectured that conversion to the Church may be destabilizing for some families.
- Heaton & Jacobson analyze 2007 Pew data and cross-year General Social Survey data showing LDS divorce rates, also reporting cross-national data that shows higher divorce rates internationally.
[14]↩︎
This is based on data from the United States, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, and West Germany.
- Rodney Stark provides data showing religious couples are more likely to marry, stay married, and have happier marriages than irreligious couples.
[15]↩︎
The 6% figure came from a 1985 study conducted by the Church using 1981 data. This figure was cited by BYU Professor Daniel K. Judd to the LA Times for a 2000 article, which in turn was cited on the Church website.
President Spencer W. Kimball claimed in 1976 that 10% of temple marriages ended in divorce.
[16]↩︎
Using 1990s data, Tim Heaton estimated the lifelong temple sealing divorce rates to be about 25%–30% (2/3 the national average).
Another study specifically sampled return missionaries in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It projected a lifelong divorce rate of 12% for men and 16% for women. The authors suggested that return missionary divorce rates can serve as a rough proxy for temple divorce rates, which would indicate a lifelong rate in the teens and "probably no more than 20%."
[17]↩︎
One study using the "National Survey of Households and Families" (which tracked U.S. people across multiple waves starting in 1989) found that Latter-day Saints and conservative protestants get married the youngest (with a 0.479 times less odds of remaining unmarried).
Another survey used the comparable "Add Health Survey" that followed high school students throughout their life and found that Latter-day Saints had younger marriage ages than even conservative Protestants, with Latter-day Saints having "more than two times the odds of marrying in a person-year."
A 2004 study found that Latter-day Saints are more likely to marry early but less likely to cohabitate.
[18]↩︎
A 1995 survey cited by BYU professors showed a median marriage age for returned missionary men as 23, while for women it was 24. For non-RMs, these numbers were both 22.
The study noted:
Thus, on average, LDS men in 1995 married about 4.5 years younger than their male peers nationally, and LDS women married 1.5 years younger than their national peers.
About 10 years later a BYU professor cited the 23% number to the Deseret News. It's unknown if the 1995 survey was his source.
Finally, the more recent (2016) Next Mormons Survey also found a median age of marriage of 22. However, none of these studies tracked the median age of marriage by cohort, so it is difficult to know how this is changing across time.
[19]↩︎
Naomi Schaefer Riley reported that fewer Mormons (only 12%) are in an interfaith marriage compared with other religions. Riley also stated:
My survey suggests that interfaith marriages are generally more unhappy—with lower rates of marital satisfaction—and often more unstable, with particularly high divorce rates when certain religious combinations are involved.
- Naomi Schaefer Riley finds that interfaith marriages are "more unhappy," "more unstable," with "high divorce rates."
- Naomi Schaefer Riley reports that fewer Mormons (12%) are in interfaith marriages compared to other religions.
[20]↩︎
Political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell found that interfaith marriage was more rare among American Latter-day Saints (along with Latino Catholics and Black Protestants) than in other faith traditions. Latter-day Saints were also found to be the most insistent that their children marry within the faith.
- Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell show that Mormons are less likely to marry outside of the faith.
[21]↩︎
Written by Stephen Cranney, the post looked at the average marital happiness score on a scale from 1-3 (1= their marriage is "not too happy," 2= "pretty happy," and 3="very happy").
Cranney found that Latter-day Saints (pooled from the last ten years) scored an average of 2.71, whereas non-Latter-day Saints scored an average of 2.59, a significant difference.
- Blog post from Stephen Cranney that analyzes GSS data to show that members report higher marital happiness.
[22]↩︎
On a scale of 1 to 10, Mormons on average reported a martial satisfaction rate of 9.3 when in a same-faith marriage. This was higher than Jews (8.2), Catholics (8.2), Black Protestants (8.3), Mainline Protestants (8.5), Evangelicals (8.9), and Nones (7.9). The satisfaction dropped to 8.8 in an interfaith marriage, but this was still higher than all other surveyed traditions except Jews (9.1).
Naomi Schaefer Riley, the author, explained:
The best explanation I found [for the high interfaith marital satisfaction] was contained in the attitudes of those Mormons I interviewed toward their non-Mormon partners. The Mormons I was able to find who are in interfaith marriages seemed to have a sense that God would ultimately take care of their partners.
- Naomi Schaefer Riley reviews data on interfaith divorce and marital satisfaction, including Mormons.
[23]↩︎
Sociologist Rodney Stark found that 67% of weekly church attenders reported that their marriage was "very happy," compared to the 52% of occasional attenders and 58% of non-attenders.
For white people and African-Americans, he reported a consistent decline in marital happiness from weekly attendees (69% white; 60% African-American) to non-attendees (60% white; 41% African-American).
Several other studies and datasets found that American churchgoers were happier overall compared with non-churchgoers.
[24]↩︎
These numbers are derived from figure 4.16 of the Heaton study. The percent of Latter-day Saints households with temple-married couples were divided by the parent of Latter-day Saint households where both spouses are Latter-day Saints.
- Heaton summarizes various LDS marriage statistics.