The 10 Cities In Minnesota With The Highest Divorce Rates For 2023


The cities in Minnesota with the highest divorce rate are Zimmerman and Virginia for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

Cities with highest divorce rate in Minnesota research summary. We analyzed Minnesota’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Minnesota based on the percentage of currently divorced residents. Here are the results of our analysis:

  • The city with the highest divorce rate in Minnesota is Zimmerman based on the most recent Census data.

  • Zimmerman is 16.0% Divorced.

  • The city with the lowest divorce rate in Minnesota is Minnetrista.

  • Minnetrista is 1.0% Divorced.

  • Minnesota is 7.000000000000001% Divorced.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


There are some 317,546 people living in Minnesota over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced in 2023.

Many people decide to run away – or split up – across the North Star State.

Isn’t the divorce rate in America close to 50%? Yes indeed. But we’re measuring something else; we are looking at counts and percentages of people over 15 years old who are currently divorced. That 50% statistic is for the percentage of people who have ever been divorced.

For today’s analysis, the focus will be on the number of currently divorced people.

So now that we have you biting your nails, rethinking your worldview, and pulling out your hair, let’s look at the places in Minnesota with the highest rates of divorcees.

The 10 Cities In Minnesota With The Highest Divorce Rates

  1. Zimmerman
  2. Virginia
  3. Cloquet
  4. Jordan
  5. Delano
  6. Fairmont
  7. Lake City
  8. Grand Rapids
  9. Hutchinson
  10. International Falls

Let’s quickly recap before we dive into the Saturday Night Science behind the data.

What is the city in Minnesota with the highest divorce rate? That would be Zimmerman, with 16.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data.

What is the overall Minnesota divorce rate? According to the 2017-2021 Community Survey, the overall divorce rate in Minnesota is 7.000000000000001%, which compares to the US divorce rate of 10.9%.

Alrighty, on to how we calculated the places with the highest divorce rates in Minnesota.

For more Minnesota reading, check out:

The 10 Places With The Highest Divorce Rate In Minnesota For 2023

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,108
Divorce Rate: 16.0%
Divorcees: 781
Median Income: $75,584
More on Zimmerman: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Virginia, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Bjoertvedt | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 8,444
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 1,013
Median Income: $44,014
More on Virginia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Cloquet, MN

Source: Wikipedia User McGhiever | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 12,563
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 1,507
Median Income: $55,007
More on Cloquet: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Jordan, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Appraiser | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 6,560
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 734
Median Income: $101,285
More on Jordan: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Delano, MN

Source: Wikipedia User AlexiusHoratius | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 6,386
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 715
Median Income: $93,531
More on Delano: Data | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Fairmont, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 10,465
Divorce Rate: 13.0%
Divorcees: 1,088
Median Income: $52,975
More on Fairmont: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Lake City, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Jonathunder | GFDL 1.2
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,120
Divorce Rate: 13.0%
Divorcees: 532
Median Income: $65,652
More on Lake City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Grand Rapids, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Jonathunder | GFDL 1.2
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 11,056
Divorce Rate: 12.0%
Divorcees: 1,061
Median Income: $51,498
More on Grand Rapids: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

Hutchinson, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 14,504
Divorce Rate: 12.0%
Divorcees: 1,392
Median Income: $58,795
More on Hutchinson: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

International Falls, MN

Source: Wikipedia User Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 5,859
Divorce Rate: 12.0%
Divorcees: 562
Median Income: $51,119
More on International Falls: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate

How We Determined The Places In Minnesota That Get Un-Hitched The Most

Since this is the 58th category of rankings we are compiling for the site, we had a pretty good idea of where to find data on marriage and divorce in America — the U.S. Census Bureau. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?

Specifically, we looked at the 2017-2021 American Community Survey table S1201 — Marital Status.

Pretty straightforward on that front — we just had to extract the following column of data:

  • Population 15 Years and Over -> Divorced

There are some interesting/fun/sad data like .1% of female Americans aged 15-19 are divorced, but 0% of males (That’s probably a rounding issue, but still).

But the national data is for another day. Today, the analysis focuses on the 149 places in Minnesota with a population of over 5,000.

We ranked each place by the percentage of divorcees over 15 years of age from highest to lowest. We crowned the divorce capital of Minnesota the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Zimmerman.

And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Minnetrista, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Minnesota.

We updated this article for 2023 and this is our fifth time ranking the cities in Minnesota with the highest divorce rates.

Getting Some Closure In Minnesota After Untying The Know

Besides just coming up with what we thought would be a great new blog/book title, “Untying the Knot In Minnesota: Life After Divorce,” we now have a sense of what places in the North Star State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.

Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Minnesota could be because of the age, education, and income distribution, as all of those things impact the rate of divorce.

And that’s probably for the best. Getting out of a toxic relationship is much better than staying in it.

Just make sure you have your running shoes ready to go.

For more Minnesota reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Minnesota

Rank City Divorce Rate
1 Zimmerman, MN 16.0%
2 Virginia, MN 15.0%
3 Cloquet, MN 15.0%
4 Jordan, MN 14.0%
5 Delano, MN 14.0%
6 Fairmont, MN 13.0%
7 Lake City, MN 13.0%
8 Grand Rapids, MN 12.0%
9 Hutchinson, MN 12.0%
10 International Falls, MN 12.0%
11 Mound, MN 12.0%
12 St. Francis, MN 12.0%
13 Brainerd, MN 12.0%
14 Buffalo, MN 12.0%
15 Sauk Rapids, MN 11.0%
16 Thief River Falls, MN 11.0%
17 Hibbing, MN 11.0%
18 Isanti, MN 11.0%
19 Litchfield, MN 11.0%
20 Monticello, MN 11.0%
21 Little Falls, MN 10.0%
22 Cambridge, MN 10.0%
23 Red Wing, MN 10.0%
24 Redwood Falls, MN 10.0%
25 Baxter, MN 10.0%
26 Robbinsdale, MN 10.0%
27 Glencoe, MN 10.0%
28 Fergus Falls, MN 10.0%
29 Montevideo, MN 10.0%
30 Ramsey, MN 9.0%
31 Sartell, MN 9.0%
32 South St. Paul, MN 9.0%
33 Albert Lea, MN 9.0%
34 Albertville, MN 9.0%
35 Bemidji, MN 9.0%
36 Big Lake, MN 9.0%
37 Champlin, MN 9.0%
38 Spring Lake Park, MN 8.0%
39 Hermantown, MN 8.0%
40 Anoka, MN 8.0%
41 Hugo, MN 8.0%
42 Crystal, MN 8.0%
43 Orono, MN 8.0%
44 Oakdale, MN 8.0%
45 North Mankato, MN 8.0%
46 New Ulm, MN 8.0%
47 Mounds View, MN 8.0%
48 Little Canada, MN 8.0%
49 St. Peter, MN 8.0%
50 Fridley, MN 8.0%
51 Circle Pines, MN 8.0%
52 Coon Rapids, MN 8.0%
53 Waseca, MN 8.0%
54 Waite Park, MN 8.0%
55 Forest Lake, MN 8.0%
56 Vadnais Heights, MN 8.0%
57 Elk River, MN 8.0%
58 Duluth, MN 8.0%
59 Alexandria, MN 8.0%
60 Stewartville, MN 8.0%
61 Faribault, MN 8.0%
62 Farmington, MN 8.0%
63 White Bear Lake, MN 8.0%
64 Detroit Lakes, MN 8.0%
65 Blaine, MN 7.0%
66 Minnetonka, MN 7.0%
67 Willmar, MN 7.0%
68 New Hope, MN 7.0%
69 Owatonna, MN 7.0%
70 Belle Plaine, MN 7.0%
71 St. Anthony, MN 7.0%
72 Marshall, MN 7.0%
73 St. Cloud, MN 7.0%
74 West St. Paul, MN 7.0%
75 Maplewood, MN 7.0%
76 New Brighton, MN 7.0%
77 Columbia Heights, MN 7.0%
78 Corcoran, MN 7.0%
79 Hastings, MN 7.0%
80 Inver Grove Heights, MN 7.0%
81 Mahtomedi, MN 6.0%
82 St. Michael, MN 6.0%
83 St. Louis Park, MN 6.0%
84 St. Joseph, MN 6.0%
85 Otsego, MN 6.0%
86 Ham Lake, MN 6.0%
87 Chanhassen, MN 6.0%
88 Chaska, MN 6.0%
89 Hopkins, MN 6.0%
90 Austin, MN 6.0%
91 Shoreview, MN 6.0%
92 Shakopee, MN 6.0%
93 North St. Paul, MN 6.0%
94 St. Paul Park, MN 6.0%
95 Apple Valley, MN 6.0%
96 Brooklyn Center, MN 6.0%
97 Byron, MN 6.0%
98 New Prague, MN 6.0%
99 Crookston, MN 6.0%
100 Stillwater, MN 6.0%