The data is widely known and available. Education plays a role. So does religion and culture.
In a new study titled "Red States, Blue States, and Divorce: Understanding the Impact of Conservative Protestantism on Regional Variation in Divorce Rates," which will be published later this month in the American Journal of Sociology, demographer and University of Texas at Austin professor Jennifer Glass set out to discover why divorce rates would be higher in religious states like Arkansas and Alabama -- which boast the second and third highest divorce rates, respectively -- but lower in more liberal states like New Jersey and Massachusetts.
It was previously thought that socioeconomic hardships in the South were largely to blame for high divorce rates, however Glass and her fellow researchers concluded that the conservative religious culture is in fact a major contributing factor thanks to "the social institutions they create" that "decrease marital stability."
Also, the following data suggests that the more religious a population is, the less educated and the more dysfunctional the society. This is true whether it is a state or country:
Education: Blue states are better educated than red states.
Degrees: Blue staters are more likely to go to college
Divorce: Blue staters are more likely to stay married
Mothers: Blue staters are less likely to get pregnant in their teen years
Shootings : Blue Staters are less likely to shoot each other to death
Driving : Blue Staters drive better and have fewer auto accidents
Crime and Drunk Driving: Blue staters drive (or at least get arrested less) while intoxicated less frequently and are less likely to commit crimes
Income: Blues make more money
Obesity - Red State voters are more likely to be overweight and/or obese