Zippia.com’s map of each state’s favorite Valentine’s Day candy after analyzing Google Trends. Courtesy Zippia.com
In the past 10 years, divorce is way down in Maine. Marriage figures have been up and down, as marriages sometimes are.
But the icing on that wedding cake?
Lewiston is the 16th best place in the country to get married in 2021.
Take that, Boston, Honolulu and Las Vegas.
For Valentine’s Eve, here’s a quick look at love and marriage stats and facts for the Pine Tree State.
Fair warning: You may soon be using “I rank 19th for romance and fun” as your next pickup line.
National rankings
WalletHub ranked 182 cities across the U.S. for its 2021’s Best Places to Get Married, measuring “20 key indicators of wedding-friendliness” that included the cost of restaurant meals, available chapels, number of DJs and, bringing the room down a bit, the average number of COVID deaths in the past week.
Orlando ranked No. 1 in the country, Lewiston 16 and Portland 25.
That’s a pretty strong showing for Maine — hope brides and grooms take notice.
WalletHub also this month released its 2021’s Best & Worst States for Singles and the news isn’t all roses there.
This time, the measures were “dating-friendliness” — think the share of singles, movie theaters per capita and the average price of a Starbucks caffe latte.
Maine ranked 39th overall with some specific category standouts. The state was No. 1 for the gender balance of singles here as well as the lowest crime rate and 19th for “romance and fun.”
I do and I don’t
Divorce here is down markedly in the past decade, according to the Department of Health and Human Services; Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention; and Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics.
In 2010, there were 5,536 divorces in Maine and in 2019 just 4,077, with a fairly steady decline in between. Preliminary 2020 numbers weren’t yet available, according to a spokesman.
May was the busiest divorce month of the decade, barely nudging out January.
Marriages started that same 10-year stretch at 9,451 Maine marriages in 2010 and ended with 9,481 in 2019. The biggest uptick came in 2013, topping 11,000 the only time in the decade, the year after same-sex marriage became legal here.
The most popular months to tie the knot: August, September and July, in that order.
Which brings us to Valentine’s Day
CouponLawn.com analyzed Google Trends searches from 2004 to 2020 to find the most-searched Valentine’s Day gift in each state.
In Maine, it was the couples massage. New Hampshire went for gift cards — so practical.
Meanwhile, Zippia.com looked at Google Trends to declare each state’s favorite Valentine’s Day candy. Maine was one of only five states not to go with something chocolate.
How to say “I love you” here? Conversation hearts, apparently.
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