Denver Is the Fourth Best City to Recover After Divorce

Where You Live May Impact the Rate at Which You Recover Financially After a Divorce

While divorce is not predictable, where you live afterward may affect your ability to recover from the financially devastating affects a divorce can have. Denver is among the best places to recover financially after a divorce—ranking fourth overall behind Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Detroit as reported by Denver Business Journal and LendingTree. Lending Tree developed rankings based on their analysis of micro data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and ranked the fifty largest metropolitan areas by giving them an economic score, dating pool score, and remarriage risk score to identify the best and worst places to recover from divorce.

Here is How Denver’s Economic Score Breaks Down:

	Denver	Average
Median annual income of divorced people;	$41,469	$34,441
Gap between the median income of divorced people and median income of one-earner families;	64.0%	40.8%
Percentage of divorced people who own a home;	61.8%	57.2%
Median monthly homeownership costs among divorced homeowners;	$1,431	$1,267
Median monthly rent price among divorced renters.	$1,365	$1,116

Here is How Denver’s Dating Pool Score Breaks Down:

	Denver	Average
Percentage of people who are unmarried;	36.3%	38.0%
Balance of single men to single women;	99.5%	88.5%

Here is How Denver’s Remarriage Risk Factor Score Breaks Down:

	Denver	Average
Percentage of divorced people who have been married at least three times;	4.9%	5.5%
Percent of people who are divorced;	18.0%	18.0%
Rate of people who are separated to those who are divorced.	14.6%	18.3%

Denver is a growing city with a growing population and a growing workforce, and the data suggests that the economic conditions in Denver are supportive of a better recovery after divorce with higher than average wages, higher than average percentages of home-ownership and a near-ideal balance of single men to single women. The LendingTree data also shows that post-divorce financial recovery may also be linked to social conditions. The data shows that recovery is easier where there are lower rates of repeat divorces and balanced gender populations among single people.

Increasing Rates of Divorce Between Ages 55-75

There is an increasing divorce rate among adults between the age of 55 and 75 (the “baby boomers”). Divorce close to retirement age is challenging because there is less time to recover financially. Long-term marriages usually carry long-term maintenance awards, but when retirement intervenes that changes, because earnings reduce. What the Lending Tree data above does not consider is that divorce matters are governed by state law, which varies from state to state. Colorado has a public policy interest in mitigating the harm that divorce causes on people and their children. As a result, the Colorado legislature and courts have done their best to fashion law that promotes equity and recovery post-divorce.

State laws may help or hinder post-divorce financial recovery depending on where you live. It is never too early to educate yourself on how Colorado law handles asset and debt division, maintenance and child support to best prepare yourself for a financial recovery post-divorce. Considerations such as the job market, real estate market, social scene and economic conditions where you live should also be considered before your divorce is final because they will affect your ability to recover financially after a divorce. The good news is, if you go through a divorce in Colorado, you may find that you will better recover financially than if you lived elsewhere.

Decreasing Rates of Divorce Between Ages 24-39

Divorce rates among couples between the age of 24 and 39 are dropping, yet these couples are often buying houses and dogs together, and having children. Disputes that arise have to be settled in a civil case or juvenile court rather than in a divorce setting. As a result, some of these disputes are not necessarily guided by the same public policy principles that govern divorces. For example, for couples that do not marry and are not married by common-law, disputes may arise over property that was jointly purchased.

This dispute over property is addressed in civil court and are not governed by the Colorado Dissolution of Marriage Act. A full jury trial is often not the best setting to determine disputes over the house, furniture, and property. Griffiths Law represents individuals, married or not, in resolving parenting and financial matters in the event of a divorce, separation or break up. We endeavor to do our best to minimize the harm to families going through a very difficult and challenging time in their lives.

Eliza Steinberg is a Shareholder at Griffiths Law. Eliza Steinberg’s practice is focused exclusively on family law related matters including divorce, allocation of parental rights, post-decree disputes, and child support matters.