Question of the Day - 13 August 2021

Nevada has long been known to have a higher-than-average divorce rate, so your question, why is this so, seems like a natural to us.

One can never really know for sure, especially when it comes to relationship issues, but here are some possibilities.

As you mentioned, Nevada divorces are quicker and easier than those in many other states and they have been for more than 100 years. Thus, Nevada has a well-earned reputation as a divorce capital and no doubt people still come here and set up residency for 42 days to qualify for no-fault divorces, which can be finalized in a couple more weeks, in some cases.

Similarly, the ease of getting married here could be assumed to promote impromptu or hasty legal couplings, without much thought to the probability of long-term success. Well-publicized examples include the shortest celebrity marriage on record, Britney Spears and her childhood friend Jason Alexander, who tied the knot for 55 hours, 1-1,274th as long as the average American marriage that ends in divorce (eight years). And who can forget the connubial bliss of Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra, which dragged on and on and on for five months, though Rodman filed for an annulment after nine days? Then there was Nicolas Cage's fourth marriage, which lasted four days before he applied for an annulment. 

Another cause is that couples continue to move to Nevada, especially Las Vegas, for second (or third or fourth) chances in lives that have bottomed out elsewhere. So they often arrive under financial stress and with other problems. At the same time, recent arrivals usually don’t have friends or family nearby, which often hinders an ability to alleviate the stresses.

The same issues are true for single people who move here. Men and women without family or close friends might be more susceptible to ill-advised marriages simply to ward off isolation and loneliness.

We’ve also seen statistics on the jobs with the highest divorce rates. Dancers/choreographers, for some reason, have the highest, at nearly 44%. Yikes. Bartenders, massage therapists, and casino cashiers are second through fourth. So four out of the top five most divorce-prone jobs, according to one website anyway, are common in the Silver State.

High unemployment and foreclosure rates, to which Las Vegas residents seem to be particularly vulnerable, considering that the city is often at the top of those two lists, also shake the foundations of marriages. During the Great Recession, a number of studies came out providing ample evidence that job loss increases the odds of divorce. (On the other hand, in researching this answer, we also saw a study that suggested the recession actually lowered the divorce rate, as unhappy couples postponed splitting up until they could better afford it.)

Finally, lifestyle is certainly a conspicuous factor. Gambling and drinking, two common activities here, exacerbate relationship issues. Few marriages survive alcoholism and/or compulsive gambling. And again, many people who move here end up succumbing to these, and other, relationship-destroying temptations.

All in all, Las Vegas can be a tough place for sustaining a long-term relationship, something couples considering moving here, especially to retire, should think long and hard about.