Recently, online lending marketplace LendingTree published a list of the best and worst places to “recover from divorce.” Sure, Turks and Caicos, Maui or maybe Paris sound like great places to recover. However, LendingTree had more practical places in mind when it developed its list of the best and worst cities in the U.S. for people to live post-divorce.
It gave three scores to each of the 50 biggest metropolitan areas in the country based on U.S. Census Bureau data: economic, dating pool and remarriage risk. Austin came in at 17th. (In case you’re curious, Minneapolis came in first and New York City was at the bottom.)
The economic score was based on things like divorced residents’ median annual income, how much it differed from that of other one-earner households and what percentage of an area’s divorced residents owned homes. The study also looked at how much divorced people were paying to own or rent a home. Austin scored 56.9 out of 100 in this category.
The dating pool score was based on the percentage of residents who were not married (either never married or divorced) and the ratio of single men and women. In this case, a score of 100 would mean that there were exactly the same number. Austin scored 65.5.
Finally, the study considered remarriage risk. This refers to the risk of a remarriage ending in another divorce. The study factored in things like the percentage of an area’s residents who are divorced and the percentage of divorced residents who had been married three or more times. Austin scored 52.7.
Everyone has different priorities after divorce. Those will determine, at least in part, whether you move or stay put.
If you are sharing custody of children with your ex-spouse, you can’t just move any distance away without their permission. Nor can they move without yours. If you determine that it’s in your children’s best interests for you to move, talk with your attorney about what you need to do to seek your ex’s or the court’s permission.