We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Tennessee’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Tennessee based on the percentage of currently divorced residents.
The city with the highest divorce rate in Tennessee is Fayetteville, 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 Tennessee is Thompson’s Station.
Tennessee is 6.0% divorced overall. There are some 339,186 people living in Tennessee 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 Tennessee with the highest rates of divorcees.
15.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Lincoln County, Tennessee
Fayetteville is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,994 at the 2000 census, and 6,827 at the 2010 census. A census estimate from 2012 showed 7,072.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
15.0% divorced · #2 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Warren County, Tennessee
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Gibson County, Tennessee
Milan is the second largest city after Humboldt in Gibson County, Tennessee, and the largest entirely within the county. It is home to the Milan Army Ammunition Plant, the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum and several historical sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city was the first in Tennessee to begin no-till farming and to flouridate its drinking water. The Milan Endowment for Growth in Academics was the first private community financial endowment for public schools in Tennessee.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Hardin County, Tennessee
Savannah is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,917 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Lauderdale County, Tennessee
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
14.0% divorced · #4 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Henderson County, Tennessee
Lexington is a city in Henderson County, Tennessee, United States. Lexington is midway between Memphis and Nashville, lying ten miles south of Interstate 40, which connects the two cities. The population was 7,473 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Henderson County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Campbell County, Tennessee
LaFollette is a city in Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 7,456 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population in 2014 of 7,131. It is the principal city of the LaFollette, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Campbell County, and is a component of the Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette Combined Statistical Area. While the city’s official spelling is one word -after its founders, Harvey Marion LaFollette and his younger brother Grant LaFollette-several federal agencies spell the city’s name with two words.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
13.0% divorced · #8 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Haywood County, Tennessee
Brownsville is a city in Haywood County, Tennessee. It is the county seat of Haywood County, which is in the broad delta floodplain near the Mississippi River. Its population as of the 2010 census is 10,292.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
12.0% divorced · #11 highest divorce rate in Tennessee
Located in
Dyer County, Tennessee
Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, in the United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, 79 miles northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 17,145 at the 2010 census. Dyersburg and Dyer County offer many amenities including quality schools, a low crime rate, moderate climate, low cost of living, and close proximity to area recreation. Dyersburg is a regional retail, medical, employment and cultural center for more than 300,000 people who live in Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Tennessee’s statewide median.
Tennessee statewide median: $69,595
On the map
Where Tennessee’s highest divorce rates are
Saturday Night Science
How We Determined The Places In Tennessee 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 101 places in Tennessee 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 Tennessee the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Fayetteville.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Thompson’s Station, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Tennessee. We updated this article for 2026 and this list is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Tennessee with the highest divorce rates.
The full plate
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Tennessee
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fayetteville | 7,057 | 847 | 15.0% |
| 1 | McMinnville | 13,844 | 1,661 | 15.0% |
| 4 | Milan | 8,244 | 923 | 14.0% |
| 4 | Savannah | 7,412 | 830 | 14.0% |
| 4 | Ripley | 7,658 | 858 | 14.0% |
| 4 | Lafayette | 5,727 | 641 | 14.0% |
| 8 | Lexington | 7,962 | 828 | 13.0% |
| 8 | La Follette | 7,273 | 756 | 13.0% |
| 8 | Brownsville | 9,622 | 1,001 | 13.0% |
| 11 | Dyersburg | 15,979 | 1,534 | 12.0% |
| 11 | Humboldt | 7,787 | 748 | 12.0% |
| 11 | Newport | 6,881 | 661 | 12.0% |
| 17 | Paris | 10,338 | 910 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Hartsville/Trousdale County | 11,957 | 1,052 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Lawrenceburg | 11,844 | 1,042 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Rockwood | 5,566 | 490 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Athens | 14,471 | 1,273 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Sweetwater | 6,532 | 575 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Manchester | 12,944 | 1,139 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Soddy-Daisy | 13,231 | 1,164 | 11.0% |
| 17 | Madisonville | 5,241 | 461 | 11.0% |
| 26 | Clinton | 10,239 | 819 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Medina | 5,407 | 433 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Bolivar | 5,144 | 412 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Church Hill | 7,139 | 571 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Harriman | 6,090 | 487 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Dickson | 16,424 | 1,314 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Henderson | 6,411 | 513 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Winchester | 9,799 | 784 | 10.0% |
| 26 | Greeneville | 15,646 | 1,252 | 10.0% |
| 35 | Elizabethton | 14,374 | 1,035 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Kingsport | 56,262 | 4,051 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Smithville | 5,288 | 381 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Pulaski | 8,285 | 597 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Lewisburg | 12,861 | 926 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Jackson | 68,435 | 4,927 | 9.0% |
| 35 | McKenzie | 5,631 | 405 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Shelbyville | 24,661 | 1,776 | 9.0% |
| 35 | Millersville | 5,836 | 420 | 9.0% |
| 43 | Goodlettsville | 17,597 | 1,126 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Erwin | 5,988 | 383 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Kingston | 6,224 | 398 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Morristown | 31,527 | 2,018 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Union City | 10,982 | 703 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Jefferson City | 8,579 | 549 | 8.0% |
| 43 | Millington | 11,289 | 722 | 8.0% |
| 52 | Dayton | 7,625 | 427 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Springfield | 19,255 | 1,078 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Munford | 6,588 | 369 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Tullahoma | 21,103 | 1,182 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Knoxville | 195,185 | 10,930 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Chattanooga | 185,783 | 10,404 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Lenoir City | 11,110 | 622 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Oakland | 9,979 | 559 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Ashland City | 5,424 | 304 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Red Bank | 12,010 | 673 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Greenbrier | 6,971 | 390 | 7.0% |
| 52 | Columbia | 45,441 | 2,545 | 7.0% |
| 67 | Atoka | 10,385 | 498 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Lakeland | 14,192 | 681 | 6.0% |
| 67 | White House | 14,631 | 702 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Maryville | 32,392 | 1,555 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Covington | 8,587 | 412 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Lebanon | 44,788 | 2,150 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Cleveland | 48,829 | 2,344 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Portland | 13,449 | 646 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Memphis | 618,980 | 29,711 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Mount Carmel | 5,472 | 263 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Fairview | 10,009 | 480 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Crossville | 12,428 | 597 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Oak Ridge | 32,693 | 1,569 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Pigeon Forge | 6,375 | 306 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Bristol | 27,636 | 1,327 | 6.0% |
| 67 | East Ridge | 22,070 | 1,059 | 6.0% |
| 67 | Johnson City | 72,222 | 3,467 | 6.0% |
| 79 | Bartlett | 56,876 | 2,275 | 5.0% |
| 79 | Martin | 10,915 | 437 | 5.0% |
| 79 | Jonesborough | 6,232 | 249 | 5.0% |
| 79 | Pleasant View | 5,276 | 211 | 5.0% |
| 79 | Dunlap | 5,678 | 227 | 5.0% |
| 79 | Hendersonville | 63,091 | 2,524 | 5.0% |
| 79 | Cookeville | 36,088 | 1,444 | 5.0% |
| 87 | Gallatin | 48,532 | 1,553 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Alcoa | 12,222 | 391 | 4.0% |
| 87 | La Vergne | 40,243 | 1,288 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Collierville | 51,515 | 1,648 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Murfreesboro | 161,445 | 5,166 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Smyrna | 56,692 | 1,814 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Signal Mountain | 8,860 | 284 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Sevierville | 18,397 | 589 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Arlington | 15,205 | 487 | 4.0% |
| 87 | Mount Juliet | 42,073 | 1,346 | 4.0% |
| 94 | Franklin | 87,133 | 2,091 | 3.0% |
| 94 | Collegedale | 11,330 | 272 | 3.0% |
| 94 | Farragut | 24,634 | 591 | 3.0% |
| 94 | Clarksville | 176,456 | 4,235 | 3.0% |
| 99 | Nolensville | 15,074 | 241 | 2.0% |
| 99 | Germantown | 40,673 | 651 | 2.0% |
| 99 | Brentwood | 45,556 | 729 | 2.0% |
| 99 | Spring Hill | 55,765 | 892 | 2.0% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 101 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Getting Some Closure In Tennessee After Untying The Knot
We now have a sense of what places in the Volunteer State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Tennessee are Fayetteville, McMinnville, Milan, Savannah, Ripley, Lafayette, Lexington, La Follette, Brownsville, and Dyersburg.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Tennessee could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.
