The 10 Jobs With the Highest Divorce Rates, and the 10 With the Lowest Recent research uncovered the careers that have the most splits.
By Rose Leadem •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Even with people marrying later in life, staying single for longer or not getting married at all, divorce is still common in the U.S.
Yet, while it's often been said the divorce rate has reached nearly 50 percent in the U.S. -- research has found that this is, in fact, a myth. Due to factors such as employment, education and race, the divorce rate highly fluctuates and is difficult to precisely measure. For example, according to research, divorce rates are much higher for unemployed people compared to employed, and divorce is least common among Asians.
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Of course, every couple has their own reasons for staying together or splitting up, but it turns out certain occupations have higher divorce rates than others. Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Five-Year American Community Survey from 2015, statistician Nathan Yau uncovered the occupations with the highest and lowest divorce rates, published on Flowing Data.
According to the research, gaming managers, such as casino managers, have the highest divorce rates in the country, at 52.9 percent. Unsurprisingly, bartenders aren't far behind gaming managers when it comes to divorce. Whether it's the long hours or the liquor-infused atmosphere, bartenders have a 52.7 percent divorce rate.
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When it comes to couples that stay in it for the long haul, research shows that higher salaried professions correlate to lower divorce rates. Occupations in medical, tech and finance made up much of the list of occupations with the lowest divorce rates, with actuaries at 17 percent.
Don't get the wrong idea though. Switching careers isn't going to mend any relationship. "If someone who is already a physician, quits and takes a job as a bartender or telemarketer, it doesn't mean their chances of divorce changes. It probably says more about the person than anything else," Yau explains. "Similarly, those with certain occupations tend to be from similar demographics, which then factors into how the individuals live their lives."
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Below, check out the 10 occupations with the lowest divorce rates and the 10 occupations with the highest.
The 10 occupations with the lowest divorce rates:
- Actuaries -- 17 percent
- Physical scientists -- 18.9 percent
- Medical and life scientists -- 19.6 percent
- Clergy -- 19.8 percent
- Software developers, applications and systems software -- 20.3 percent
- Physical therapists -- 20.7 percent
- Optometrists -- 20.8 percent
- Chemical engineers -- 21.1 percent
- Directors, religious activities and education -- 21.3 percent
- Physicians and surgeons -- 21.8 percent
The 10 occupations with the highest divorce rates:
- Gaming managers -- 52.9 percent
- Bartenders -- 52.7 percent
- Flight attendants -- 50.5 percent
- Gaming services workers -- 50.3 percent
- Rolling machine setters, operators and tenders, metal and plastic -- 50.1 percent
- Switchboard operators -- 49.7 percent
- Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators and tenders, metal and plastic -- 49.6 percent
- Telemarketers -- 49.2 percent
- Textile knitting and weaving machine operators -- 48.9 percent
- Extruding, forming, pressing and compacting machine setters, operators and tenders -- 48.8 percent
