We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Michigan’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Michigan based on the percentage of currently divorced residents.
The city with the highest divorce rate in Michigan is Davison, with 19.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data. The city with the lowest divorce rate in Michigan is Hamtramck.
Michigan is 9.0% divorced overall. There are some 725,598 people living in Michigan over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced.
Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.
So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in Michigan with the highest rates of divorcees.
19.0% divorced · #1 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
18.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Alpena County, Michigan
Alpena is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Alpena County. It is considered to be part of northern Michigan. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is located in the city. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census. The population swells with a large number of visitors in the summer.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
17.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Genesee County, Michigan
Swartz Creek is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,758 at the 2010 census. The city is a suburb of Flint and has incorporated land formerly within Flint Charter Township, Gaines Township, and Clayton Township, but is administratively autonomous from all three.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
17.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Ottawa County, Michigan
Zeeland is a city in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,504 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the western edge of Zeeland Charter Township which is politically independent. Its name is derived from the Dutch province of Zeeland.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
St. Clair County, Michigan
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Branch County, Michigan
Coldwater is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
15.0% divorced · #10 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Muskegon County, Michigan
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
15.0% divorced · #10 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Lapeer County, Michigan
Lapeer is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Lapeer County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,841. Most of the city was incorporated from land that was formerly in Lapeer Township, though portions were also annexed from Mayfield Township and Elba Township. The city government is politically independent of all three townships. Lapeer is in southern Michigan, east of Flint, on the Flint River. The name “Lapeer” is a corruption of the French la pierre, which means “the flint”.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
15.0% divorced · #10 highest divorce rate in Michigan
Located in
Ionia County, Michigan
Belding is a city in Ionia County in the U.S. state of Michigan, completely surrounded by Otisco Township, Michigan. The population was 5,757 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Michigan’s statewide median.
Michigan statewide median: $72,875
On the map
Where Michigan’s highest divorce rates are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Places In Michigan That Get Un-Hitched The Most
We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?
Specifically, we looked at the 2020-2024 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status. Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:
Today, the analysis focuses on the 153 places in Michigan with a population of over 5,000.
- Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced
We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of Michigan the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Davison.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Hamtramck, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Michigan. We updated this article for 2026 and this list is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Michigan with the highest divorce rates.
The full plate
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Michigan
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davison | 5,076 | 772 | 19.0% |
| 2 | Alpena | 10,154 | 1,462 | 18.0% |
| 3 | Swartz Creek | 5,853 | 796 | 17.0% |
| 3 | Zeeland | 5,665 | 770 | 17.0% |
| 6 | Richmond | 5,855 | 749 | 16.0% |
| 6 | Coldwater | 13,671 | 1,750 | 16.0% |
| 6 | Springfield | 5,269 | 674 | 16.0% |
| 9 | Muskegon Heights | 9,841 | 1,181 | 15.0% |
| 9 | Lapeer | 9,082 | 1,090 | 15.0% |
| 9 | Belding | 5,960 | 715 | 15.0% |
| 9 | Walled Lake | 7,299 | 876 | 15.0% |
| 17 | Brighton | 7,688 | 861 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Milan | 5,987 | 671 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Marshall | 6,804 | 762 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Eaton Rapids | 5,183 | 580 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Hastings | 7,520 | 842 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Owosso | 14,632 | 1,639 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Muskegon | 37,226 | 4,169 | 14.0% |
| 17 | St. Clair | 5,585 | 626 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Burton | 29,500 | 3,304 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Jackson | 31,058 | 3,478 | 14.0% |
| 17 | Howell | 10,021 | 1,122 | 14.0% |
| 30 | Trenton | 18,125 | 1,885 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Iron Mountain | 7,518 | 782 | 13.0% |
| 30 | St. Louis | 7,367 | 766 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Ecorse | 9,064 | 943 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Manistee | 6,275 | 653 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Port Huron | 28,620 | 2,976 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Wyandotte | 24,489 | 2,547 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Allegan | 5,172 | 538 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Ludington | 7,676 | 798 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Greenville | 8,995 | 935 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Grand Haven | 10,996 | 1,144 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Wayne | 17,310 | 1,800 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Utica | 5,180 | 539 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Cadillac | 10,445 | 1,086 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Three Rivers | 7,943 | 826 | 13.0% |
| 30 | Flushing | 8,284 | 862 | 13.0% |
| 44 | Charlotte | 9,277 | 891 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Escanaba | 12,354 | 1,186 | 12.0% |
| 44 | St. Johns | 7,715 | 741 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Taylor | 62,081 | 5,960 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Traverse City | 15,593 | 1,497 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Harper Woods | 15,116 | 1,451 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Mason | 8,249 | 792 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Petoskey | 5,856 | 562 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Fenton | 11,906 | 1,143 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Grand Ledge | 7,804 | 749 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Bay City | 32,320 | 3,103 | 12.0% |
| 44 | Ionia | 12,753 | 1,224 | 12.0% |
| 58 | Hillsdale | 8,002 | 704 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Dowagiac | 5,732 | 504 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Northville | 6,069 | 534 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Lincoln Park | 39,257 | 3,455 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Mount Clemens | 15,511 | 1,365 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Roseville | 47,123 | 4,147 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Battle Creek | 52,374 | 4,609 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Allen Park | 27,925 | 2,457 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Sault Ste. Marie | 13,335 | 1,173 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Clawson | 11,374 | 1,001 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Westland | 83,633 | 7,360 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Flint | 80,175 | 7,055 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Monroe | 20,320 | 1,788 | 11.0% |
| 58 | St. Clair Shores | 58,140 | 5,116 | 11.0% |
| 58 | Saginaw | 43,536 | 3,831 | 11.0% |
| 71 | Hazel Park | 14,963 | 1,197 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Ishpeming | 6,181 | 494 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Highland Park | 8,628 | 690 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Dundee | 5,744 | 460 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Southfield | 76,236 | 6,099 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Milford | 6,487 | 519 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Garden City | 26,739 | 2,139 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Oak Park | 29,318 | 2,345 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Benton Harbor | 8,953 | 716 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Riverview | 12,186 | 975 | 10.0% |
| 71 | Adrian | 20,395 | 1,632 | 10.0% |
| 89 | South Lyon | 11,950 | 860 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Pontiac | 62,104 | 4,471 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Chelsea | 5,426 | 391 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Saline | 9,006 | 648 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Hudsonville | 7,769 | 559 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Romulus | 24,831 | 1,788 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Albion | 7,560 | 544 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Holly | 5,964 | 429 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Royal Oak | 57,950 | 4,172 | 9.0% |
| 89 | River Rouge | 7,008 | 505 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Marysville | 9,925 | 715 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Plymouth | 9,214 | 663 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Warren | 137,928 | 9,931 | 9.0% |
| 89 | St. Joseph | 7,986 | 575 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Lansing | 113,023 | 8,138 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Fraser | 14,583 | 1,050 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Tecumseh | 8,646 | 623 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Grand Blanc | 7,987 | 575 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Niles | 11,803 | 850 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Beverly Hills | 10,524 | 758 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Inkster | 25,428 | 1,831 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Big Rapids | 8,477 | 610 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Gladstone | 5,253 | 378 | 9.0% |
| 89 | Midland | 42,724 | 3,076 | 9.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 153 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Getting Some Closure In Michigan After Untying The Knot
We now have a sense of what places in the Wolverine State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Michigan are Davison, Alpena, Swartz Creek, Zeeland, Richmond, Coldwater, Springfield, Muskegon Heights, Lapeer, and Belding.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Michigan could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce. Not sold on Michigan? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Divorce In Michigan FAQs
What city in Michigan has the highest divorce rate?
Davison has the highest divorce rate in Michigan for 2026, with 19.0% of residents over 15 currently divorced. Alpena and Swartz Creek are next.
What is the divorce rate in Michigan?
Michigan is 9.0% divorced overall, versus a US divorce rate of 10.9%. That counts residents over 15 who are currently divorced, per the Census American Community Survey.
What are the divorce capitals of Michigan?
The Michigan cities with the highest divorce rates are Davison, Alpena, Swartz Creek, Zeeland, Richmond, Coldwater, Springfield, Muskegon Heights, Lapeer, and Belding. We ranked all 153 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Where do marriages last in Michigan?
Hamtramck posts the lowest divorce rate of the 153 Michigan cities we ranked. Whatever they are doing there, it appears to be working.
How do you measure divorce rates?
We use the share of residents aged 15 and over who report being currently divorced in the Census American Community Survey. It is a snapshot of marital status today, not a count of divorces filed each year.
