New York City Marriage, Divorce and Couples Therapy Statistics

By spiral2grow · Published November 13, 2026 · Data: NYS Department of Health, Census ACS, NYSED and CDC PLACES · More research

New York City recorded 70,244 marriages in 2023 and its courts granted 18,465 divorces. In 2025, 38.3% of New Yorkers aged 15 and over were married, and as of July 1, 2026, 476 licensed marriage and family therapists had a city mailing address.

Key numbers

• 70,244marriages recorded in New York City in 202356.5% of the state’s total. NYS DOH, Table 47.
• 18,465divorces granted by New York City courts in 202338.8% ended marriages of 5 to 9 years. NYS DOH, Table 51.
• 38.3%of New Yorkers aged 15 and over were married in 2025Not counting separated people. Census ACS 2025, B12001.
• 476licensed marriage and family therapists with a NYC addressJuly 1, 2026; 4.2 per 10,000 married-couple households (2025 estimate). NYSED.
• 38.5%of New York City adults are estimated to feel lonely at least sometimesCDC PLACES model estimate for 2023.

Marriage

• New York City recorded 70,244 marriages in 2023, 56.5% of the 124,301 in New York State.Source: NYS Department of Health, Vital Statistics 2023, Table 47 (by county where the ceremony took place). Data
• Manhattan recorded 26,512 marriages in 2023, more than any other borough and 37.7% of the city’s total. Brooklyn recorded 14,482, Queens 14,035, the Bronx 11,953 and Staten Island 3,262.Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2023, Table 47. Data
• August was the busiest month for marriage ceremonies in New York City in 2023 (7,315); January was the quietest (4,412).Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2023, Table 47. Data
• In 2025, 38.3% of New York City residents aged 15 and over were married (not counting separated people), compared with 44.1% statewide.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year, table B12001. Data
• Staten Island had the highest married share of the five boroughs in 2025 (50.3%) and the Bronx the lowest (30.3%). Manhattan’s was 33.7%.Source: ACS 2025 1-year, B12001. Data
• About half of Manhattan and Bronx residents aged 15 and over had never married in 2025 (51.9% in each), the highest shares of the five boroughs, compared with 34.2% on Staten Island and 46.3% citywide.Source: ACS 2025 1-year, B12001. Data

Divorce

• New York City courts granted 18,465 divorces in 2023, 36.0% of the 51,261 granted in New York State.Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2023, Table 51 (provisional); our NYC divorce study. Data
• By the borough of the court that granted them, 2023 divorces were: Bronx 5,809, Queens 5,670, Brooklyn 4,849, Manhattan 1,388 and Staten Island 749. These are counts by court, not by where couples lived.Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2023, Table 51. Data
• 38.8% of New York City divorces in 2023 ended marriages that had lasted 5 to 9 years, the largest length group in every year from 2013 to 2023. Statewide the share was 33.1%.Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2013 to 2023, Table 51; our NYC divorce study. Data
• 57.5% of New York City divorces in 2023 ended marriages of less than 10 years, and 6 years was the most common single length among them (1,915 divorces).Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2023, Tables 49 and 51; our NYC divorce study. Data
• 21.5% of New York City divorces in 2023 (3,968) involved at least one child under 18.Source: NYS DOH Vital Statistics 2023, Table 52; our NYC divorce study. Data
• New York City courts granted 6.2 divorces per 1,000 married residents in 2023, compared with 7.0 in the rest of the state, or 6.6 without Jefferson County (home to Fort Drum), whose court granted 44.9 per 1,000. Divorces are counted by the county of the court, not where couples lived.Source: NYS DOH Table 51 and ACS 2023 1-year B12001; our NYC divorce study. Data
• About 84,600 New York State residents said they had divorced in the previous 12 months, or 8.4 per 1,000 residents who had ever married. The Census Bureau does not publish this measure for New York City or its boroughs.Source: ACS 2025 1-year, table B12503 (New York State); people, so a divorce between two New York residents counts twice. Data
• 8.2% of Bronx residents aged 15 and over were divorced in 2025 and 4.6% were separated, the highest estimated shares of the five boroughs. Citywide, 7.7% were divorced, below the statewide 8.5%.Source: ACS 2025 1-year, B12001. Data

Couples and family therapists

• 476 licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs) had a New York City mailing address as of July 1, 2026: 191 in Manhattan, 123 in Brooklyn, 100 in Queens, 48 in the Bronx and 14 on Staten Island.Source: NYSED Office of the Professions, license statistics; our NYC marriage and family therapist study. Data
• New York City had 4.2 LMFTs (July 1, 2026 counts) for every 10,000 married-couple households (2025 Census estimate). Manhattan had 8.5; Staten Island had 1.6.Source: NYSED (July 1, 2026) and ACS 2025 1-year B11001; our NYC marriage and family therapist study. Data
• New York State issued 292 new LMFT licenses in 2025, up 97% from 148 in 2024.Source: NYSED license statistics; our NYC marriage and family therapist study. Data
• LMFTs were 2.1% of the 22,663 New York City licensees in four therapy licenses (LMFT, licensed clinical social worker, psychologist and mental health counselor). Many couples therapists hold one of the other licenses.Source: NYSED license statistics, July 1, 2026; our NYC marriage and family therapist study. Data

Loneliness and support

• CDC estimates that 38.5% of New York City adults felt lonely always, usually or sometimes in 2023, and 30.9% lacked the social and emotional support they need.Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (2023 survey data), place estimates for New York city. Data
• By borough, CDC’s loneliness estimates ran from 34.2% on Staten Island to 40.6% in the Bronx (Manhattan 38.0%), though the borough estimates’ 95% ranges overlap.Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release, county estimates; our Manhattan loneliness map. Data
• CDC’s estimates of adults lacking social and emotional support ran from 26.3% in Manhattan to 34.4% in the Bronx. Those two boroughs’ 95% ranges do not overlap, but each overlaps the ranges of other boroughs, so the other borough rankings are not clear-cut.Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release, county estimates; our Manhattan loneliness map. Data
• Within Manhattan, the loneliness estimate ranged from 35.2% on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side to between 42.5% and 42.8% in Central Harlem, Morningside and Hamilton Heights, and East Harlem (community district averages of tract estimates).Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release, tract estimates; our Manhattan loneliness map. Data

The five boroughs at a glance

Marriages are counted where the ceremony took place and divorces by the court that granted them, so neither is a count of borough residents. Married and divorced shares are of residents aged 15 and over (married excludes separated). LMFTs are by mailing address. Loneliness is CDC’s model-based share of adults who feel lonely always, usually or sometimes.

What this means for couples

About these numbers

Each statement gives its source and period. Marriage and divorce counts come from the New York State Department of Health’s yearly vital statistics tables (2023 is the latest year, and DOH marks it provisional). Marital status comes from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) 2025 1-year estimates, which are survey estimates with margins of error. Therapist counts are from the NYSED Office of the Professions. Loneliness and lack of support are CDC PLACES model-based estimates from 2023 survey data. Figures marked with a link to one of our studies were computed and independently re-checked there; the others were computed for this page and re-checked against a second published table.

• DOH counts marriages by the county where the ceremony took place and divorces by the county court that granted them. A couple may marry in one borough and divorce in another, or outside the city, so borough counts are not rates for borough residents.
• The ACS asks residents whether they divorced in the past 12 months, but the Census Bureau publishes that only for the state, not for New York City or its boroughs. It counts people, not divorces.
• LMFT counts use mailing addresses and include licensees who may not be practicing; therapists with other licenses also see couples.

Sources

• NYS Department of Health, Vital Statistics of New York State 2023, Tables 47 to 52. 2023 (provisional); earlier years at the same address.
• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year estimates, table B12001 (Sex by Marital Status). 2025; NYC counties, New York city and New York State.
• U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2025 1-year, table B12503 (Divorces in the Last Year). 2025; New York State.
• NYSED Office of the Professions, Marriage and Family Therapists license statistics. Counts as of July 1, 2026; licenses issued 2021 to 2025.
• CDC, PLACES: Local Data for Better Health, 2025 release. County, place and tract estimates from 2023 BRFSS data.

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