The oldest groom in Idaho in 2022 was 92. The oldest bride was 87. The shortest marriage was 34 days. The longest marriage ending in divorce was 59 years.

These and many more statistics about marriage and divorce in Idaho are available in the 2022 Marriage and Divorce Report, which was published by the Department of Health and Welfare’s Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics in December.

The bureau is responsible for managing Idaho’s vital records program and for providing health statistics and analysis, and is responsible for inspecting, processing, and storing records. Data in the report is for marriages and divorces occurring in Idaho only. There is no reporting agreement among states to exchange information about divorces. 

The number of marriages occurring in Idaho increased 2 percent from 14,030 in 2021 to 14,304 in 2022. At the same time, the marriage rate decreased from 7.6 marriages per 1,000 people to 7.4 marriages per 1,000 people. 

Marriages occur at a higher frequency in Idaho than in the U.S. as a whole. The 2021 U.S. provisional marriage rate was 6.0 per 1,000 people according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Much of the difference between Idaho and U.S. rates can be accounted for by the high number of nonresidents who marry in northern Idaho.

The number of divorces in Idaho increased less than 1% from 6,392 in 2021 to 6,419 in 2022. In the past 10 years the divorce rate declined 27% from 4.8 divorces per 1,000 people in 2012 to 3.5 in 2021. Like marriages, divorces occur more frequently in Idaho than in the remainder of the nation. IN 2021 the provisional divorce rate for the U.S. as a whole was 2.5 per 1,000 people, according to the CDC.

On Oct. 15, 2014, same-sex marriage became legal in Idaho, and a question for each person’s title (groom, bride, or partner) was added to the Idaho Marriage License. Marriage licenses vary by county. Some include a question for sex, and some do not. 

Of the 14,304 marriages in Idaho in 2022, a total of 13,967 were between a bride and groom, and 328 were same-sex or between a partner and a partner.

Of the 6,419 divorces in Idaho in 2022, 6,200 (96.6%) were opposite-sex divorces, 81 were same-sex divorces among females, 18 were same-sex divorces among males, and 120 did not report one or both sexes.

More females (4,206 or 65.5%) petitioned for divorce than males (2,183 or 34.0%).

For more information:

• Read the 2022 Marriage and Divorce Report

• Read prior years’ reports

• Visit the Idaho Vital Events Divorce Dashboard

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is dedicated to strengthening the health, safety, and independence of Idahoans. Learn more at healthandwelfare.idaho.gov.