Cities with highest divorce rate in Wisconsin research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Wisconsin’s most recent Census data to determine the divorce rate for each city in Wisconsin based on the percentage of currently divorced residents. Here are the results of our analysis:
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The city with the highest divorce rate in Wisconsin is Merrill based on the most recent Census data.
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Merrill is 15.0% Divorced.
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The city with the lowest divorce rate in Wisconsin is Bristol.
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Bristol is 2.0% Divorced.
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Wisconsin is 7.0% Divorced.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
There are some 329,953 people living in Wisconsin over fifteen years of age who are divorced. You can compare that to the 28,339,199 Americans who are currently divorced in 2025.
Many people decide to run away – or split up – across the Badger 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 Wisconsin with the highest rates of divorcees.
The 10 Cities In Wisconsin With The Highest Divorce Rates
Let’s quickly recap before we dive into the Saturday Night Science behind the data.
What is the city in Wisconsin with the highest divorce rate? That would be Merrill, with 15.0% of people over 15 years of age being divorced, per the most recent census data.
What is the overall Wisconsin divorce rate? According to the 2019-2023 Community Survey, the overall divorce rate in Wisconsin is 7.0%, which compares to the US divorce rate of 10.9%.
Alrighty, on to how we calculated the places with the highest divorce rates in Wisconsin.
For more Wisconsin reading, check out:
The 10 Places With The Highest Divorce Rate In Wisconsin For 2025
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Population: 9,224
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 1,106
Median Income: $49,947
More on Merrill: Data
/10
Population: 5,169
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 620
Median Income: $66,453
More on Mayville: Data
/10
Population: 7,492
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 899
Median Income: $61,447
More on New London: Data
/10
Population: 8,240
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 988
Median Income: $62,380
More on Pewaukee: Data
/10
Population: 5,030
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 603
Median Income: $51,472
More on Richland Center: Data
/10
Population: 9,921
Divorce Rate: 15.0%
Divorcees: 1,190
Median Income: $60,517
More on Sparta: Data
/10
Population: 7,803
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 873
Median Income: $59,063
More on Ripon: Data
/10
Population: 6,173
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 691
Median Income: $99,457
More on Slinger: Data
/10
Population: 14,643
Divorce Rate: 14.0%
Divorcees: 1,640
Median Income: $62,133
More on Chippewa Falls: Data
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Population: 9,236
Divorce Rate: 13.0%
Divorcees: 960
Median Income: $56,457
More on Shawano: Data
How We Determined The Places In Wisconsin 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. We used Saturday Night Science to look at the U.S. Census Bureau on divorce rates. Because who likes tracking misery more than the U.S. government?
Specifically, we looked at the 2019-2023 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 144 places in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin the place with the highest incidence of divorcees, Merrill.
And if you’re trying to avoid divorce, check out Bristol, the city with the lowest divorce rate in Wisconsin.
We updated this article for 2025 and this list is our fifth time ranking the cities in Wisconsin with the highest divorce rates.
Getting Some Closure In Wisconsin After Untying The Know
Besides just coming up with what we thought would be a great new blog/book title, “Untying the Knot In Wisconsin: Life After Divorce,” we now have a sense of what places in the Badger State don’t pay much attention to the whole “’til death do we part” phrase.
The cities with the highest divorce rate in Wisconsin are Merrill, Mayville, New London, Pewaukee, Richland Center, Sparta, Ripon, Slinger, Chippewa Falls, and Shawano.
Try to keep in mind that the reason cities rank where they do in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin reading, check out:
Cities With The Highest Divorce Rates In Wisconsin
| Rank | City | Population | Divorcees | Divorce Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merrill, WI | 9,224 | 1,106 | 15.0% |
| 2 | Mayville, WI | 5,169 | 620 | 15.0% |
| 3 | New London, WI | 7,492 | 899 | 15.0% |
| 4 | Pewaukee, WI | 8,240 | 988 | 15.0% |
| 5 | Richland Center, WI | 5,030 | 603 | 15.0% |
| 6 | Sparta, WI | 9,921 | 1,190 | 15.0% |
| 7 | Ripon, WI | 7,803 | 873 | 14.0% |
| 8 | Slinger, WI | 6,173 | 691 | 14.0% |
| 9 | Chippewa Falls, WI | 14,643 | 1,640 | 14.0% |
| 10 | Shawano, WI | 9,236 | 960 | 13.0% |
| 11 | Lake Hallie, WI | 7,245 | 753 | 13.0% |
| 12 | Cudahy, WI | 17,964 | 1,724 | 12.0% |
| 13 | Sturgeon Bay, WI | 9,702 | 931 | 12.0% |
| 14 | Two Rivers, WI | 11,224 | 1,077 | 12.0% |
| 15 | Waupaca, WI | 6,314 | 606 | 12.0% |
| 16 | West Allis, WI | 59,588 | 5,720 | 12.0% |
| 17 | Jefferson, WI | 7,722 | 741 | 12.0% |
| 18 | Edgerton, WI | 5,924 | 568 | 12.0% |
| 19 | Wisconsin Rapids, WI | 18,756 | 1,800 | 12.0% |
| 20 | Monroe, WI | 10,568 | 929 | 11.0% |
| 21 | Baraboo, WI | 12,506 | 1,100 | 11.0% |
| 22 | Beaver Dam, WI | 16,629 | 1,463 | 11.0% |
| 23 | Evansville, WI | 5,771 | 507 | 11.0% |
| 24 | Kimberly, WI | 7,432 | 654 | 11.0% |
| 25 | Portage, WI | 10,374 | 912 | 11.0% |
| 26 | Rhinelander, WI | 8,248 | 725 | 11.0% |
| 27 | Marshfield, WI | 18,718 | 1,647 | 11.0% |
| 28 | Columbus, WI | 5,493 | 483 | 11.0% |
| 29 | Weston, WI | 15,784 | 1,388 | 11.0% |
| 30 | St. Francis, WI | 9,318 | 819 | 11.0% |
| 31 | Racine, WI | 77,155 | 6,172 | 10.0% |
| 32 | Greenfield, WI | 37,361 | 2,988 | 10.0% |
| 33 | Berlin, WI | 5,523 | 441 | 10.0% |
| 34 | Mcfarland, WI | 9,230 | 738 | 10.0% |
| 35 | Bellevue, WI | 16,255 | 1,300 | 10.0% |
| 36 | Sheboygan Falls, WI | 8,190 | 655 | 10.0% |
| 37 | South Milwaukee, WI | 20,547 | 1,643 | 10.0% |
| 38 | Manitowoc, WI | 34,553 | 2,764 | 10.0% |
| 39 | Allouez, WI | 14,023 | 1,121 | 10.0% |
| 40 | Waupun, WI | 11,244 | 899 | 10.0% |
| 41 | West Bend, WI | 31,722 | 2,537 | 10.0% |
| 42 | Waterford, WI | 5,627 | 450 | 10.0% |
| 43 | Watertown, WI | 22,873 | 1,829 | 10.0% |
| 44 | Prairie Du Chien, WI | 5,471 | 393 | 9.0% |
| 45 | Port Washington, WI | 12,569 | 904 | 9.0% |
| 46 | Dodgeville, WI | 5,013 | 360 | 9.0% |
| 47 | Plymouth, WI | 8,913 | 641 | 9.0% |
| 48 | West Salem, WI | 5,268 | 379 | 9.0% |
| 49 | Green Bay, WI | 106,585 | 7,674 | 9.0% |
| 50 | Deforest, WI | 10,853 | 781 | 9.0% |
| 51 | Oshkosh, WI | 66,247 | 4,769 | 9.0% |
| 52 | Oconomowoc, WI | 18,385 | 1,323 | 9.0% |
| 53 | De Pere, WI | 25,368 | 1,826 | 9.0% |
| 54 | Milton, WI | 5,685 | 409 | 9.0% |
| 55 | Mukwonago, WI | 8,411 | 605 | 9.0% |
| 56 | Wausau, WI | 39,893 | 2,872 | 9.0% |
| 57 | Delafield, WI | 7,192 | 517 | 9.0% |
| 58 | Howard, WI | 20,261 | 1,458 | 9.0% |
| 59 | Superior, WI | 26,550 | 1,911 | 9.0% |
| 60 | Antigo, WI | 8,058 | 580 | 9.0% |
| 61 | Waukesha, WI | 70,779 | 5,096 | 9.0% |
| 62 | Stoughton, WI | 13,063 | 940 | 9.0% |
| 63 | Fond Du Lac, WI | 44,491 | 3,203 | 9.0% |
| 64 | Janesville, WI | 65,813 | 4,738 | 9.0% |
| 65 | Jackson, WI | 7,882 | 567 | 9.0% |
| 66 | Mount Pleasant, WI | 27,694 | 1,993 | 9.0% |
| 67 | Sheboygan, WI | 49,812 | 3,586 | 9.0% |
| 68 | Grafton, WI | 12,274 | 883 | 9.0% |
| 69 | Ashland, WI | 7,884 | 567 | 9.0% |
| 70 | Hales Corners, WI | 7,627 | 549 | 9.0% |
| 71 | New Richmond, WI | 10,334 | 661 | 8.0% |
| 72 | Rice Lake, WI | 9,030 | 577 | 8.0% |
| 73 | Oak Creek, WI | 36,473 | 2,334 | 8.0% |
| 74 | Ashwaubenon, WI | 16,931 | 1,083 | 8.0% |
| 75 | Rothschild, WI | 5,532 | 354 | 8.0% |
| 76 | North Fond Du Lac, WI | 5,373 | 343 | 8.0% |
| 77 | Reedsburg, WI | 10,060 | 643 | 8.0% |
| 78 | Neenah, WI | 27,409 | 1,754 | 8.0% |
| 79 | Kaukauna, WI | 17,237 | 1,103 | 8.0% |
| 80 | Little Chute, WI | 11,930 | 763 | 8.0% |
| 81 | Hartford, WI | 15,761 | 1,008 | 8.0% |
| 82 | Glendale, WI | 13,134 | 840 | 8.0% |
| 83 | Menasha, WI | 18,130 | 1,160 | 8.0% |
| 84 | Elkhorn, WI | 10,259 | 656 | 8.0% |
| 85 | Monona, WI | 8,604 | 481 | 7.0% |
| 86 | Holmen, WI | 11,027 | 617 | 7.0% |
| 87 | Beloit, WI | 36,554 | 2,047 | 7.0% |
| 88 | Fort Atkinson, WI | 12,490 | 699 | 7.0% |
| 89 | Kronenwetter, WI | 8,420 | 471 | 7.0% |
| 90 | La Crosse, WI | 51,791 | 2,900 | 7.0% |
| 91 | Appleton, WI | 74,873 | 4,192 | 7.0% |
| 92 | Lake Mills, WI | 6,391 | 357 | 7.0% |
| 93 | Marinette, WI | 11,060 | 619 | 7.0% |
| 94 | Greendale, WI | 14,656 | 820 | 7.0% |
| 95 | Elm Grove, WI | 6,428 | 359 | 7.0% |
| 96 | Caledonia, WI | 25,292 | 1,416 | 7.0% |
| 97 | Germa, WI | 20,940 | 1,172 | 7.0% |
| 98 | Menomonie, WI | 16,548 | 926 | 7.0% |
| 99 | Altoona, WI | 8,750 | 490 | 7.0% |
| 100 | Eau Claire, WI | 69,274 | 3,879 | 7.0% |