We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Louisiana’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Louisiana based on the percentage of currently divorced residents.
The city with the highest divorce rate in Louisiana is Ponchatoula, with 17.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data. The city with the lowest divorce rate in Louisiana is Grambling.
Louisiana is 9.0% divorced overall. There are some 332,061 people living in Louisiana 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 Louisiana with the highest rates of divorcees.
17.0% divorced · #1 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Ponchatoula is a small city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,559 at the 2010 census. Ponchatoula is known as the “Strawberry Capital of the World”. It is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
16.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Vermilion Parish, Louisiana
Abbeville is a city in and the parish seat of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, United States, 150 miles west of New Orleans and 60 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. The population was 12,257 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
15.0% divorced · #3 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Lafayette Parish, Louisiana
Scott is the fourth largest municipality in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population rose to over 8,000 according to the 2010 census results. Scott is a suburb of Lafayette and is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Sulphur is a city in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,410 at the 2010 census. Sulphur is part of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
Eunice is a city in Acadia and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The 2010 census placed the population at 10,398, a decrease of 1,101, or 9.5 percent, from the 2000 tabulation of 11,499.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Washington Parish, Louisiana
Bogalusa is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Washington Parish and is also part of the larger New Orleans-Metairie-Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #6 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Livingston Parish, Louisiana
Denham Springs is a city in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census placed the population at 10,215, up from 8,757 at the 2000 census. The city is the largest area of commercial and residential development in Livingston Parish. As of the 2010 census, Denham Springs and Walker are the only parish municipalities classified as cities.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #10 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Iberville Parish, Louisiana
Plaquemine is a city in and the parish seat of Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,064 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #10 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
St. Martinville is a small city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on Bayou Teche, sixteen miles south of Breaux Bridge, eighteen miles southeast of Lafayette, and nine miles north of New Iberia. The population was 6,114 at the 2010 census, down from 6,989 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #10 highest divorce rate in Louisiana
Located in
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Westwego is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 8,534 at the 2010 census. It lies along the west bank of the Mississippi River.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Louisiana’s statewide median.
Louisiana statewide median: $60,756
On the map
Where Louisiana’s highest divorce rates are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Places In Louisiana 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 59 places in Louisiana 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 Louisiana the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Ponchatoula.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Grambling, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Louisiana. We updated this article for 2026 and this list is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Louisiana with the highest divorce rates.
The full plate
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Louisiana
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ponchatoula | 7,808 | 1,062 | 17.0% |
| 2 | Abbeville | 11,003 | 1,408 | 16.0% |
| 3 | Scott | 8,609 | 1,033 | 15.0% |
| 5 | Sulphur | 20,775 | 2,327 | 14.0% |
| 5 | Eunice | 9,239 | 1,035 | 14.0% |
| 5 | Bogalusa | 10,468 | 1,172 | 14.0% |
| 5 | Denham Springs | 9,323 | 1,044 | 14.0% |
| 10 | Plaquemine | 6,075 | 632 | 13.0% |
| 10 | St. Martinville | 5,297 | 551 | 13.0% |
| 10 | Westwego | 8,335 | 867 | 13.0% |
| 10 | Pineville | 14,160 | 1,473 | 13.0% |
| 10 | New Iberia | 27,571 | 2,867 | 13.0% |
| 14 | Crowley | 11,422 | 1,097 | 12.0% |
| 14 | Morgan City | 11,064 | 1,062 | 12.0% |
| 14 | Covington | 11,658 | 1,119 | 12.0% |
| 14 | Bastrop | 9,232 | 886 | 12.0% |
| 19 | Leesville | 5,495 | 484 | 11.0% |
| 19 | Houma | 32,392 | 2,850 | 11.0% |
| 19 | Central | 29,783 | 2,621 | 11.0% |
| 19 | Shreveport | 180,982 | 15,926 | 11.0% |
| 19 | Alexandria | 44,060 | 3,877 | 11.0% |
| 19 | Jennings | 9,553 | 841 | 11.0% |
| 26 | Baker | 12,253 | 980 | 10.0% |
| 26 | West Monroe | 12,729 | 1,018 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Opelousas | 15,495 | 1,240 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Rayne | 7,105 | 568 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Patterson | 5,744 | 460 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Franklin | 6,461 | 517 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Tallulah | 5,969 | 478 | 10.0% |
| 33 | Walker | 6,390 | 460 | 9.0% |
| 33 | Donaldsonville | 6,831 | 492 | 9.0% |
| 33 | Gretna | 17,389 | 1,252 | 9.0% |
| 33 | St. Gabriel | 6,639 | 478 | 9.0% |
| 33 | Thibodaux | 15,732 | 1,133 | 9.0% |
| 33 | Oakdale | 6,546 | 471 | 9.0% |
| 33 | Gonzales | 13,108 | 944 | 9.0% |
| 33 | Carencro | 11,619 | 837 | 9.0% |
| 43 | Ville Platte | 6,253 | 400 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Lake Charles | 81,143 | 5,193 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Mandeville | 12,946 | 829 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Minden | 11,455 | 733 | 8.0% |
| 43 | New Orleans | 371,853 | 23,799 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Lafayette | 121,715 | 7,790 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Harahan | 8,904 | 570 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Kenner | 64,904 | 4,154 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Zachary | 19,952 | 1,277 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Breaux Bridge | 7,501 | 480 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Monroe | 47,004 | 3,008 | 8.0% |
| 43 | DeRidder | 9,763 | 625 | 8.0% |
| 52 | Bossier City | 62,901 | 3,522 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Slidell | 28,561 | 1,599 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Hammond | 21,539 | 1,206 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Natchitoches | 17,577 | 984 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Addis | 7,252 | 406 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Baton Rouge | 222,771 | 12,475 | 7.0% |
| 56 | Broussard | 14,322 | 687 | 6.0% |
| 57 | Ruston | 22,284 | 891 | 5.0% |
| 57 | Youngsville | 17,427 | 697 | 5.0% |
| 59 | Grambling | 5,287 | 127 | 3.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 59 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Getting Some Closure In Louisiana After Untying The Knot
We now have a sense of what places in the Pelican State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Louisiana are Ponchatoula, Abbeville, Scott, Sulphur, Eunice, Bogalusa, Denham Springs, Plaquemine, St. Martinville, and Westwego.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Louisiana could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.
