We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Mississippi’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Mississippi based on the percentage of currently divorced residents.
The city with the highest divorce rate in Mississippi is Columbia, with 15.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data. The city with the lowest divorce rate in Mississippi is Diamondhead.
Mississippi is 8.0% divorced overall. There are some 188,593 people living in Mississippi 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 Mississippi with the highest rates of divorcees.
15.0% divorced · #1 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Marion County, Mississippi
Columbia is a city in Marion County, Mississippi, which was formed six years before Mississippi was admitted to statehood. Columbia was named for Columbia, South Carolina, from which many of the early settlers had migrated. The population was 6,603 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Pike County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Grenada County, Mississippi
Grenada is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,092 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Warren County, Mississippi
Vicksburg is the only city and county seat of Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is located 234 miles northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and 40 miles due west of Jackson, the state capital. It is located on the Mississippi River across from the state of Louisiana.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Attala County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Lowndes County, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also referred to as the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. It is approximately 146 miles northeast of Jackson, 92 miles north of Meridian, 63 miles south of Tupelo, 60 miles northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and 120 miles west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census and 23,640 in 2010. The population in 2012 was estimated to be 23,452. Columbus is the principal city of the Columbus Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Columbus-West Point Combined Statistical Area. Columbus is also part of the area of Mississippi called The Golden Triangle, consisting of Columbus, West Point and Starkville, in the counties of Lowndes, Clay and Oktibbeha.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Union County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Bolivar County, Mississippi
Cleveland is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,334 as of the 2010 United States Census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
11.0% divorced · #11 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Neshoba County, Mississippi
Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,477 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
11.0% divorced · #11 highest divorce rate in Mississippi
Located in
Adams County, Mississippi
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Mississippi’s statewide median.
Mississippi statewide median: $56,447
On the map
Where Mississippi’s highest divorce rates are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Places In Mississippi 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 61 places in Mississippi 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 Mississippi the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Columbia.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Diamondhead, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Mississippi. We updated this article for 2026 and this list is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Mississippi with the highest divorce rates.
The full plate
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Mississippi
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia | 6,632 | 796 | 15.0% |
| 2 | McComb | 12,049 | 1,349 | 14.0% |
| 3 | Grenada | 12,375 | 1,287 | 13.0% |
| 3 | Vicksburg | 20,589 | 2,141 | 13.0% |
| 6 | Kosciusko | 6,933 | 666 | 12.0% |
| 6 | Columbus | 23,348 | 2,241 | 12.0% |
| 6 | New Albany | 7,663 | 736 | 12.0% |
| 6 | Cleveland | 10,623 | 1,020 | 12.0% |
| 11 | Philadelphia | 6,996 | 616 | 11.0% |
| 11 | Natchez | 14,192 | 1,249 | 11.0% |
| 11 | Pearl | 27,737 | 2,441 | 11.0% |
| 11 | Meridian | 34,137 | 3,004 | 11.0% |
| 11 | Ripley | 5,377 | 473 | 11.0% |
| 16 | Yazoo City | 10,219 | 818 | 10.0% |
| 16 | Jackson | 146,631 | 11,730 | 10.0% |
| 16 | Corinth | 14,323 | 1,146 | 10.0% |
| 16 | West Point | 9,900 | 792 | 10.0% |
| 16 | Clarksdale | 14,231 | 1,138 | 10.0% |
| 16 | Indianola | 9,062 | 725 | 10.0% |
| 24 | Laurel | 17,679 | 1,273 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Gulfport | 73,003 | 5,256 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Greenville | 28,166 | 2,028 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Amory | 6,500 | 468 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Greenwood | 14,086 | 1,014 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Byram | 12,799 | 922 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Tupelo | 37,791 | 2,721 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Canton | 10,811 | 778 | 9.0% |
| 24 | Brookhaven | 11,650 | 839 | 9.0% |
| 31 | Hattiesburg | 48,619 | 3,112 | 8.0% |
| 31 | Gautier | 19,046 | 1,219 | 8.0% |
| 31 | Louisville | 5,983 | 383 | 8.0% |
| 31 | Petal | 11,294 | 723 | 8.0% |
| 31 | Moss Point | 11,957 | 765 | 8.0% |
| 36 | Booneville | 9,246 | 518 | 7.0% |
| 36 | Pascagoula | 21,710 | 1,216 | 7.0% |
| 36 | Richland | 7,346 | 411 | 7.0% |
| 36 | Senatobia | 8,380 | 469 | 7.0% |
| 36 | Ridgeland | 24,587 | 1,377 | 7.0% |
| 43 | Forest | 5,357 | 257 | 6.0% |
| 43 | D’Iberville | 13,203 | 634 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Flowood | 10,587 | 508 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Brandon | 25,542 | 1,226 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Holly Springs | 6,704 | 322 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Batesville | 7,387 | 355 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Pontotoc | 5,806 | 279 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Long Beach | 17,009 | 816 | 6.0% |
| 43 | Oxford | 26,411 | 1,268 | 6.0% |
| 51 | Horn Lake | 26,647 | 1,066 | 5.0% |
| 51 | Hernando | 17,949 | 718 | 5.0% |
| 51 | Picayune | 11,900 | 476 | 5.0% |
| 51 | Pass Christian | 6,097 | 244 | 5.0% |
| 51 | Clinton | 27,195 | 1,088 | 5.0% |
| 51 | Biloxi | 48,861 | 1,954 | 5.0% |
| 51 | Ocean Springs | 18,646 | 746 | 5.0% |
| 57 | Waveland | 7,062 | 226 | 4.0% |
| 57 | Madison | 27,946 | 894 | 4.0% |
| 57 | Southaven | 56,226 | 1,799 | 4.0% |
| 57 | Olive Branch | 47,019 | 1,505 | 4.0% |
| 57 | Bay St. Louis | 10,188 | 326 | 4.0% |
| 57 | Starkville | 25,721 | 823 | 4.0% |
| 61 | Diamondhead | 9,338 | 224 | 3.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 61 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Getting Some Closure In Mississippi After Untying The Knot
We now have a sense of what places in the Magnolia State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Mississippi are Columbia, McComb, Grenada, Vicksburg, Kosciusko, Columbus, New Albany, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Natchez.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Mississippi could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce. Not sold on Mississippi? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Divorce In Mississippi FAQs
What city in Mississippi has the highest divorce rate?
Columbia has the highest divorce rate in Mississippi for 2026, with 15.0% of residents over 15 currently divorced. McComb and Grenada are next.
What is the divorce rate in Mississippi?
Mississippi is 8.0% 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 Mississippi?
The Mississippi cities with the highest divorce rates are Columbia, McComb, Grenada, Vicksburg, Kosciusko, Columbus, New Albany, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Natchez. We ranked all 61 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Where do marriages last in Mississippi?
Diamondhead posts the lowest divorce rate of the 61 Mississippi 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.
