There are a lot of factors that affect the national divorce rate, causing it to rise or lower in comparison to the average. And when nearly half of US couples argue about money, it's hardly surprising that employment status and salary rank among those factors.
Of course, salary and job stability have a lot to do with one's career path and employer, which is why certain fields seem to have a more favorable association with lasting marriages — and others don't. To that end, statistician Nathan Yau recently took data from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey from 2015 in order to determine the occupations with the highest and lowest divorce rates.
Career may not be the No. 1 determining factor in whether a person will get a divorce, but financial stability and overall satisfaction with life are important contributors. Workplace atmosphere could also influence whether one goes through a divorce. Yau's research found that gaming and casino managers have the highest divorce rates in America, at 52.9%. Bartenders are close behind, with a 52.7% divorce rate.
Conversely, salaried positions tend to fare better for lasting marriages, with positions in the medical and financial fields ranking among the careers with the lowest divorce rates.
So, what are the final results?
The 10 occupations with the highest divorce rates:
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1. Gaming managers: 52.9%
2. Bartenders: 52.7%
3. Flight attendants: 50.5%
4. Gaming services workers: 50.3%
5. Rolling machine setters, operators and tenders, metal and plastic: 50.1%
6. Switchboard operators: 49.7%
7. Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators and tenders, metal and plastic: 49.6%
8. Telemarketers: 49.2%
9. Textile knitting and weaving machine operators: 48.9%
10. Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders: 48.8%
The 10 occupations with the lowest divorce rates:
1. Actuaries: 17%
2. Physical scientists: 18.9%
3. Medical and life scientists: 19.6%
4. Clergy: 19.8%
5. Software developers, applications and systems software: 20.3%
6. Physical therapists: 20.7%
7. Optometrists: 20.8%
8. Chemical engineers: 21.1%
9. Directors, religious activities and education: 21.3%
10. Physicians and surgeons: 21.8%
Some positive news to end on? Despite the commonly tossed around stat that "half of all marriages end in divorce," according to the Center for Disease Control, the actual US divorce rate is 2.9 for every 1,000 people and has actually been dropping since the 1990s. Hopefully, with the right choice in partners — and, maybe, career paths! — that's a trend that will continue.
This Fairygodboss story was originally published on Business Insider October 10, 2019.