Military Divorce Statistics 2025

All marriages have their challenges, but military marriages have unique difficulties due to deployment, long separations, frequent relocations, and anxiety over the service member’s physical safety. In addition to these challenges, military spouses often experience higher levels of infidelity than married couples with traditional employment.

Every marriage is unique, but a look at recent military divorce statistics helps highlight the special challenges facing military spouses in 2025.

Understanding Military Divorce Numbers

Some research studies show a higher rate of divorce among military spouses, with about 30% of marriages with at least one spouse in active duty military service experiencing divorce or legal separation within the first five years of the marriage.

In younger military spouses between the ages of 18-24, the divorce rate is as high as 50%. This is substantially different from civilian marriages, where the highest age demographic for divorce is between ages 30 and 40. While civilian marriages end most often after ten or more years of marriage, military divorce often occurs within five years of the marriage date.

Around 60% of military spouses report communication problems when one spouse is an active duty service member and the other is a civilian.

Divorce Statistics In the Military

The U.S. Pentagon tracks military divorce numbers and releases reports with statistics such as the following:

• There were 21,290 divorces among the 6,89,060 military marriages in a single recent year, leaving the military divorce rate at just over three percent 
• Female service members experience higher divorce rates than male troops, at 7% compared to 2.5%
• Enlisted troops have higher divorce rates than officers, at 3.5% compared to 1.7%, without regard to gender
• The Navy’s divorce rate is slightly lower than that of other military branches at 2.8%, while the Air Force and Marines are higher than the Army at 3.3%, compared to 3% among Army enlisted spouses
• Military divorce rates increase in parallel to increased length and safety hazards in the military member’s deployment
• Infidelity in military marriages is a major contributor to divorce numbers, including an infidelity rate of 22.6% among married airmen
• There were 42,000 domestic abuse incidents reported among married or intimately involved service members between 2015 and 2019

According to an earlier (2013) study on military divorce, one of the largest contributors to the higher-than-typical divorce rates within the military is that spouses have certain expectations when they enter a marriage. The unpredictable nature of military deployments alters those expectations, along with the unknown consequences of deployment, frequent relocations, and the difficulty faced by non-military spouses caring for the home and children alone during lengthy separations.

The Impacts of Military Divorces on Service Members’ Mental Health

Military members face a higher risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at an average of 7%, or 13% in female military veterans and 15% in younger veterans. A study of recently divorced military members showed an increase in PTSD diagnoses, depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse, new smoking initiation, and other adverse mental health outcomes. It also shows increased risk-taking behaviors.

How Can a Military Divorce Lawyer Help?

Determining jurisdiction can be complex in military divorce cases due to frequent relocations to different states or countries. It often takes an experienced military divorce attorney to navigate this type of divorce process. 

All divorces become more challenging when the spouses share children; however, child custody cases in military divorces are far more complex than in typical divorces due to one spouse’s deployments. A military divorce often requires unique considerations, such as back-up child custody plans for an active-duty service member during deployment.

Call Ciancio Ciancio Brown, P.C., for the specialized legal representation you need for the Colorado military divorce process.