“Men and women in the South had higher rates of divorce in 2009 than in other regions of the country, 10.2 per 1,000 for men and 11.1 per 1,000 for women, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau. The national divorce rate was 9.2 for men and 9.7 for women. By contrast, men and women in the Northeast had the lowest rates of divorce, 7.2 and 7.5 (see table). These new statistics come from the report Marital Events of Americans: 2009, which examines marriage, divorce and widowhood in America as well as selected characteristics for those experiencing a marital event in the past year. The report is the first of its kind to describe the detailed characteristics of marital events among Americans ages 15 and older using data from the 2009 American Community Survey (ACS)…In 2009, 14 states had divorce rates for men that were significantly above the U.S. average, ranging from 10.0 to 13.5 per 1,000 (see figure [PDF]). Higher than average divorce rates for men occurred mostly in Southern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. In contrast, nine states had divorce rates for men significantly below the U.S. average, ranging from 6.1 to 8.5. Of these states five were in the Northeast: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.”