The 2024 military report gives a 3.5% active-duty divorce rate. It counts 21,594 changes in marital status among 620,472 members who were married in September 2023. Status was checked again in September 2024. The count includes people whose spouse died. This one-year measure cannot show how many military marriages will end in divorce.
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Who the 3.5% estimate counts
The official 2024 report starts with active-duty members who were married in September 2023. It checks who no longer had a married status in September 2024. Its table gives 21,594 cases out of 620,472 members. The published rate is 3.5%.
Who got counted? The starting group was married service members. It did not include every person serving or every military spouse. The report also counts widowed cases and expects their number to be small. It does not follow each marriage from the wedding day until it ends.
Which branch has the highest reported rate
Among active-duty branches in the 2024 report, the Navy has the highest published estimate at 6.6%, and the Army the lowest at 2.0%. The table below keeps the same prior-year married-member denominator for each branch. It separates the number of recorded cases from the rounded percentage. These figures describe one reporting interval.
The report warns that the Army’s 2023 personnel-system migration continued to affect reporting of some transactions in 2024. Its Army divorce data may therefore vary from previous years because of reporting changes. Read a low Army figure with that warning beside it. A branch difference alone cannot establish what caused an ending or how a particular couple will fare.
Active-duty estimates by branch, 2024
September 2023–September 2024. Percent of members married at the start; widowed cases are included. Army reporting was affected by a personnel-system migration. These differences do not establish causes.
- Army2.0%Starting group: 222,881 married members
- Navy6.6%Starting group: 158,579 married members
- Marine Corps2.6%Starting group: 67,045 married members
- Air Force2.9%Starting group: 166,763 married members
- Space Force2.1%Starting group: 5,204 married members
Source: 2024 Demographics Profile, exhibit 5.26. Exact counts follow in the table.
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| Active-duty branch | Married in September 2023 | Estimated cases in 2024 | Published rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 222,881 | 4,473 | 2.0% |
| Navy | 158,579 | 10,451 | 6.6% |
| Marine Corps | 67,045 | 1,751 | 2.6% |
| Air Force | 166,763 | 4,809 | 2.9% |
| Space Force | 5,204 | 110 | 2.1% |
| Total active duty | 620,472 | 21,594 | 3.5% |
What the table measures These estimates count changes over one year among members married at the start. They cannot establish lifetime divorce risk or causes.
How to read it: Source: Department of Defense, 2024 Demographics Profile, exhibit 5.26, printed page 129. Percentages reproduced as published. Widowed cases are included; Army reporting is affected by its personnel-system migration.
Download the table (CSV) ↓The reserve figure counts a separate group
The selected-reserve estimate is 1.9% in the 2024 report: 6,207 cases among 333,322 members married in September 2023. That group includes the selected reserve components and Coast Guard Reserve. It is separate from the active-duty table. The reserve measure also compares September marital status across the two years and includes widowed cases.
Keep active duty and selected reserve in separate comparisons. Do not add their percentages or treat either as a rate for all veterans. The source does not establish that a difference between the groups comes from service conditions. It also does not measure your own relationship’s chance of lasting.
Check the measure before comparing civilian figures
An annual military percentage cannot be compared directly with a civilian figure reported per 1,000 residents. One begins with previously married members; the other may include people who were never married. Even a civilian rate limited to married adults would need a compatible period, definition and population. This report alone cannot show that military marriages are more likely to end than otherwise similar civilian marriages.
The state divorce-rate guide explains annual measures for a different population. The marriage-duration guide separates how long current marriages have lasted from figures that follow marriages over time. Choose the measure that matches your question before comparing two numbers.
Use the year and the limit with the number
Military OneSource identifies the 2024 profile as its latest publicly available report when checked on October 6, 2026. A page updated in 2026 can still be using an older military statistic. Check the underlying table year and who entered its starting group. Avoid turning an annual count into a claim that a fixed share of all military marriages eventually fails.
If you want to understand a number you saw online, compare its year, population and definition with this report first. If you are considering your own relationship, these tables cannot assess the people or circumstances involved. The U.S. marriage measures guide explains the other common figures before you put them beside this one.
