Keeping Track: Divorce trends in Central New York

SYRACUSE N.Y. — Studies say New York State's divorce rate is going down, so CNYCentral checked state data for counties in Central New York and found that's true, but not by much.

In Central New York, Onondaga County divorces have been on a slight decline, according to the New York State Department of Health, which tracks divorce data.

In 2012, 1,430 couples got divorced in Onondaga County, and in 2016, 1,223 couples called it quits.

The slight trend down for divorce was true for other counties in Central New York including Oswego, Cayuga, Madison and Tompkins.

We also checked in on Monroe County, which includes Rochester, a city closer to the size of Syracuse. They've seen a decline in divorce, too.

Check the divorce numbers in your county in the spreadsheet below:

[Don't see the data? Click here]

Family law attorney Michael Underwood works a lot with divorce in Central New York. He sees about 100 clients a year.

In fact, he's offering a bizarre perk: A contest for a free divorce for a "lucky" couple this St. Patrick's Day. The "winning" couple will get a free divorce and $500 to donate to charity, with a catch. One of the parties involved has to shave their head!

"I would say the average divorce is about $2,500 to $3,000," Underwood, who is known as the "Bald Divorce Lawyer," said.

Underwood says he knows it's a silly contest, but it's a serious topic.

"The most common reason I see for people to end their marriage is somebody is having an extramarital relationship with someone else, or if somebody has a drug or alcohol issue," explained Underwood.

"People are viewing marriage a little bit differently than in the past," he said. "Some people are content with never getting married, I think 30 years ago, that wasn't really a popular idea as it is today."

Don't get discouraged by all this divorce talk. According to state data, more than 2,200 couples got married in Onondaga County during 2016. That's almost double the divorces.