According to the Judicial Council of California, 108,403 Californian couples sought to end their marriage through dissolution, legal separation, or annulment in 2024. While this figure includes a staggering number of married couples, it actually represents a 20-year low, even lower than the pandemic year of 2020.
At Diarian & Bociaga Family Law Advocates, we understand that divorce is a deeply personal and incredibly impactful decision and process. For this reason, we pored through annual caseload trend reports to provide insights and relevant statistics about the state of divorce in California.
California Divorce Statistics by Year
From the 2005 fiscal year through the 2024 fiscal year, 2,738,822 divorces were filed in California courts (this number includes dissolution, legal separation, and nullity filings).
Divorce filings (and family law filings in general) have been steadily declining during the 20-year observation period, peaking in 2006 with nearly 158,000 divorce filings and dropping to a 20-year low of 108,403 in 2024. In fact, in 2024, there were 30 percent fewer new divorce filings in California than in 2005.
California Divorce Statistics: Court Filings from 2005 through 2024
The data below shows all Family Law-related court filings, those relating to divorce and nullity, and those divorce filings as a percentage of all family law filings. Interestingly, as divorce filings have decreased, they have begun to represent a slightly larger portion of all family law filings.
| Year | All Family Law Filings | Divorce Filings | Percentage of all Filings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 318,729 | 108,403 | 34% |
| 2023 | 321,214 | 111,889 | 35% |
| 2022 | 311,649 | 115,164 | 37% |
| 2021 | 298,107 | 114,241 | 38% |
| 2020 | 307,849 | 108,432 | 35% |
| 2019 | 353,727 | 126,140 | 36% |
| 2018 | 360,509 | 131,042 | 36% |
| 2017 | 374,998 | 134,708 | 36% |
| 2016 | 389,428 | 139,806 | 36% |
| 2015 | 381,214 | 138,109 | 36% |
| 2014 | 381,486 | 138,968 | 36% |
| 2013 | 390,229 | 140,251 | 36% |
| 2012 | 417,198 | 150,602 | 36% |
| 2011 | 432,453 | 154,549 | 36% |
| 2010 | 455,834 | 154,534 | 34% |
| 2009 | 458,138 | 153,205 | 33% |
| 2008 | 439,420 | 151,505 | 34% |
| 2007 | 460,437 | 154,649 | 34% |
| 2006 | 455,901 | 157,719 | 35% |
| 2005 | 475,322 | 154,906 | 33% |
California Divorce Statistics by County
Below, we break the California divorce statistics down by county and offer a comparison from 2024 to 2005 – the latest and earliest years in the observation period. The following map is interactive.
As one might expect, more divorces are filed in Los Angeles than in any other county in California. In fact, in 2024, nearly 1 in 4 divorces was filed in a Los Angeles County court.
Other populous counties rounded out the top five, in order:
- Los Angeles County with 25,682
- San Diego County with 10,540
- Orange County with 8,847
- Riverside County with 7,636
- San Bernardino County with 6,479
Table: A Comparison of Divorce Filings from 2024 to 2005 by Count
Divorce filings decreased in every county that reported data in 2005, except two: Mariposa County and Santa Cruz County, which reported increases of 83 percent and 142 percent, respectively.
Imperial County and Trinity County saw the largest decrease in divorce filings, falling 69 percent and 63 percent, respectively.
Interestingly, Los Angeles County, home to nearly a quarter of all divorce filings, fell by 35 percent – a figure higher than the state average.
*While all counties are represented in 2024, there were several that did not report data in 2005. Thus, comparisons are left as N/A in the table below. This includes: Humboldt County, Modoc County, and Sierra County.
| County | 2024 | 2005 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda | 3,644 | 5,521 | 34% decrease |
| Alpine | 3 | 6 | 50% decrease |
| Amador | 136 | 187 | 27% decrease |
| Butte | 670 | 1,145 | 41% decrease |
| Calaveras | 125 | 230 | 46% decrease |
| Colusa | 55 | 95 | 42% decrease |
| Contra Costa | 2,844 | 3,877 | 27% decrease |
| Del Norte | 90 | 131 | 31% decrease |
| El Dorado | 569 | 933 | 39% decrease |
| Fresno | 3,175 | 4,125 | 23% decrease |
| Glenn | 99 | 151 | 34% decrease |
| Humboldt | 386 | 0 | N/A |
| Imperial | 606 | 1,978 | 69% decrease |
| Inyo | 57 | 95 | 40% decrease |
| Kern | 2,643 | 3,558 | 26% decrease |
| Kings | 752 | 764 | 2% decrease |
| Lake | 262 | 352 | 26% decrease |
| Lassen | 135 | 138 | 2% decrease |
| Los Angeles | 25,682 | 39,671 | 35% decrease |
| Madera | 551 | 633 | 13% decrease |
| Marin | 694 | 1,044 | 34% decrease |
| Mariposa | 55 | 30 | 83% increase |
| Mendocino | 297 | 326 | 9% decrease |
| Merced | 746 | 972 | 23% decrease |
| Modoc | 35 | 0 | N/A |
| Mono | 27 | 49 | 45% decrease |
| Monterey | 1,142 | 1,420 | 20% decrease |
| Napa | 377 | 558 | 32% decrease |
| Nevada | 360 | 479 | 25% decrease |
| Orange | 8,847 | 11,776 | 25% decrease |
| Placer | 1,227 | 1,515 | 19% decrease |
| Plumas | 66 | 116 | 43% decrease |
| Riverside | 7,636 | 8,884 | 14% decrease |
| Sacramento | 4,524 | 6,856 | 34% decrease |
| San Benito | 205 | 304 | 33% decrease |
| San Bernardino | 6,479 | 9,107 | 29% decrease |
| San Diego | 10,540 | 14,061 | 25% decrease |
| San Francisco | 1,781 | 3,097 | 42% decrease |
| San Joaquin | 1,960 | 3,153 | 38% decrease |
| San Luis Obispo | 711 | 980 | 27% decrease |
| San Mateo | 1,605 | 2,580 | 38% decrease |
| Santa Barbara | 1,069 | 1,513 | 29% decrease |
| Santa Clara | 4,078 | 6,617 | 38% decrease |
| Santa Cruz | 645 | 267 | 142% increase |
| Shasta | 750 | 1,189 | 37% decrease |
| Sierra | 9 | 0 | N/A |
| Siskiyou | 177 | 296 | 40% decrease |
| Solano | 1,461 | 2,102 | 30% decrease |
| Sonoma | 1,295 | 2,147 | 40% decrease |
| Stanislaus | 1,756 | 2,360 | 26% decrease |
| Sutter | 302 | 516 | 41% decrease |
| Tehama | 220 | 400 | 45% decrease |
| Trinity | 33 | 88 | 63% decrease |
| Tulare | 1,532 | 1,930 | 21% decrease |
| Tuolumne | 204 | 298 | 32% decrease |
| Ventura | 2,183 | 3,763 | 42% decrease |
| Yolo | 565 | 790 | 28% decrease |
| Yuba | 326 | 427 | 24% decrease |
Data Sources and Fair Use
This page reports data from the 2015-2025 Court Statistics Report Statewide Caseload Trends published by the Judicial Council of California. If you would like to share it with your readers, viewers or listeners, please provide attribution by linking back to this page.