The physician divorce rate in recent national data is level with or below the general population’s: a 2018–2023 analysis found 17.6% of nonsurgeon physicians and 20.9% of surgeons divorced, against 20.8% overall.
Figures differ by specialty, sex and hours worked, and the studies measure different things. The sections below set out the causes first, then what the numbers mean for couples married to a doctor.
What the large studies measured
The best public figures come from analyses of American Community Survey data, which the US Census Bureau collects. Both analyses draw on that survey, but they cover different years and report different measures, so their numbers should not be merged into one trend line.
Jena and colleagues, writing in the BMJ in February 2015, used the American Community Survey, an annual survey of around three million households. Their physician sample covered 2008 through 2013 and included more than 40,000 physicians. They found that 24 percent of physician respondents had ever been divorced. That is a lifetime measure: it counts anyone who has been divorced at any point, including people who have since remarried.
Khalil and colleagues analysed American Community Survey data from nationally representative surveys between 2018 and 2023. Their sample identified 4,167 surgeons and 64,647 nonsurgeon physicians and reported the prevalence of divorce in each group. Because it is a different measure and a later period, it is the better guide to the present, while the earlier analysis offers the broader occupational comparison.
Earlier claims that doctors divorce unusually often came from a weaker evidence base. According to the BMJ authors, previous studies finding higher divorce rates among physicians used small, non-representative samples. Since then the overall US divorce rate has dropped more than 25 percent, which is another reason to distrust older figures repeated without a date.
Factors linked to divorce among doctors
The research links divorce among doctors to specialty, to sex and to hours worked, and the pattern is not the same for every group. These are statistical associations, so none of them proves that a job feature causes a divorce.
Specialty: surgeons versus other physicians
Surgeons show the clearest specialty difference. In the Khalil analysis, divorce prevalence was 20.9% among surgeons (95% CI 19.6 to 21.1) and 17.6% among nonsurgeon physicians (95% CI 17.3 to 17.9). After adjustment, surgeons had a 16% higher risk of divorce (odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.28). The authors concluded that surgeons face a higher risk of divorce than their nonsurgeon physician counterparts.
The study points to the nature of surgical work as the likely setting for that gap, naming long and irregular work hours that often challenge a surgeon’s social well-being. That is the authors’ framing of the explanation, not a tested mechanism. The comparison is also moderate: the surgeon figure lands level with the 20.8% found for the general population in the same analysis, while nonsurgeon physicians fall below it.
Sex differences
Sex shows up in both analyses. In the BMJ study, female physicians were approximately one and a half times more likely to be divorced than male physicians. In the later surgeon analysis, the adjusted risk of divorce was higher among male surgeons (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.42), reported in the Khalil abstract.
These two results use different groups, years and measures, so they do not contradict each other. The BMJ authors believe the higher divorce incidence among female physicians stems from greater work and life tradeoffs, and they add that more research is needed to confirm whether that interpretation is accurate.
Work hours
Hours matter, but the direction depends on sex. Among male physicians, working more than 40 hours a week was associated with a lower incidence of divorce. Female physicians who reported working more than 40 hours per week had a higher probability of ever being divorced.
A single message that long hours wreck marriages is therefore not what the BMJ data show. The practical reading is narrower: the same schedule seems to carry different costs in different households, which fits the authors’ view that tradeoffs matter.
How physicians compare with other professions
Physicians sit in the lower half of the range for divorce among the occupations compared in the BMJ study. The authors summarised it this way: doctors have among the lowest rates of divorce among health care professionals. Only pharmacists, at 23 percent, were less likely than physicians to have been divorced.
| Occupation group | Probability of ever being divorced (2008–2013 data) | Planning use |
|---|---|---|
| Pharmacists | 23% | The only group below physicians in this comparison. |
| Physicians | 24% | The baseline for a physician marriage. |
| Dentists | 25% | Close to physicians, so the gap is small. |
| Lawyers | 27% | A non-health-care professional comparison. |
| Health care executives | 31% | Higher than clinicians in the same sector. |
| Nurses | 33% | Another group in the same health system that sits clearly higher. |
| All non-health-care occupations | 35% | The widest benchmark for the workforce as a whole. |
These figures come from the Jena and colleagues BMJ analysis of census survey data, as reported by ScienceDaily; they measure ever being divorced, not current status.
Use the table to test the claim that medicine is uniquely hard on marriages. On this evidence it is not: physicians were below lawyers, nurses and the non-health-care average. For a current baseline, the Khalil analysis compared surgeons and nonsurgeon physicians with a general population prevalence of 20.8% (95% CI 20.7 to 20.8). Nonsurgeon physicians were below that level and surgeons level with it.
Where the data stops
The Khalil analysis splits physicians into two groups, surgeons and nonsurgeons. It therefore supports a surgeon-versus-others comparison, not a ranking of every specialty. A league table of divorce by individual specialty, or a single figure for residents, goes beyond what these analyses report and should be treated cautiously wherever it circulates.
Two further limits apply. The BMJ and surgeon figures cover different years and measures, so a change over time cannot be read from them. The mechanism behind the sex and hours patterns is also unresolved, since the BMJ authors themselves call for more research.
What the figures mean for couples
The data supports a calm reading: a medical career is not a reliable predictor of divorce by itself, but schedule pressure is the factor that the evidence keeps returning to. That makes hours and unpredictability the most useful thing for a couple to talk about early, particularly in surgical careers where the authors name irregular hours.
- Talk about the schedule, not the statistic. A population average says little about one household, while an on-call rota, late finishes and shift changes are specific enough to plan around.
- Do not assume longer hours mean more risk. The BMJ pattern differs by sex, so judge the tradeoffs in your own household instead of applying a single rule.
- Read older figures with suspicion. A claim without a year or a sample probably traces back to the smaller early studies.
These are practical judgements rather than tested interventions, since the studies describe associations and do not test specific couple habits. For the day-to-day side of those schedules, the guide on what is it like to be married to a doctor is the next step. When both partners are clinicians, the guide to a dual physician marriage covers how the tradeoffs about hours are shared.
Frequently asked questions
Is the idea that doctors divorce far more often than other people a myth?
The evidence does not support it. The early studies behind that idea used small, non-representative samples, and the later national data show physicians level with or below the general population.
Do doctors divorce more than nurses or lawyers?
No. In the BMJ analysis, the probability of ever being divorced was 24 percent for physicians, 27 percent for lawyers and 33 percent for nurses.
Does working more than 40 hours a week raise the risk of divorce?
It depends on sex. In the same BMJ study, those hours were linked to a lower incidence of divorce among male physicians and a higher probability among female physicians.
Are female physicians more likely to be divorced?
In the BMJ data they were about one and a half times more likely to have been divorced. The authors attribute this to greater work and life tradeoffs, and say more research is needed to confirm that explanation, according to the published summary.