The District of Columbia ranks first, with the largest percentage of single-person households overall - 44.75%. The District of Columbia has a large proportion of business professionals and has the lowest median age of all states. This means that there are many people living alone while they pursue their careers.
North Dakota ranks second, with 33.66% of all households being single-person households. North Dakota has seen a recent boom in population, increasing by 15.83 percent between the 2010 and 2020 census - this may be partly due to the fact that the state leads the US in job creation, attracting young professionals. These factors are likely to play a large role in the high number of single-person households.
Vermont ranks third, with 31.64% of all households being made up of single people.
Further Insights:
- The research also details the states with the highest proportion of widowers and divorcees. West Virginia, Alabama, and Arkansas have the highest proportion of widowed households - with West Virginia obtaining a percentage of 7.8% and Alabama and Arkansas both obtaining a percentage of 7.1%.
- Maine and Nevada have the joint highest proportion of divorced people - with 14% of each population being divorced.
- The top three least lonely states are; Utah, Alaska, and Hawaii. Obtaining Lonely State Scores of 0.72, 2.32, and 2.56 respectively.
The 10 states with the largest percentage of single-person households:
|
Rank |
State |
Population |
Percentage of single-person households (2019) |
Number of people widowed |
Number of people divorced |
Lonely State Score /10 |
|
1 |
District of Columbia |
714,153 |
44.75% |
4.6% |
4.8% |
5.80 |
|
2 |
North Dakota |
770,026 |
33.66% |
5.5% |
10.0% |
3.92 |
|
3 |
Vermont |
623,251 |
31.64% |
5.6% |
13.0% |
6.28 |
|
4 |
New Mexico |
2,105,005 |
31.32% |
6.0% |
13.0% |
6.60 |
|
5 |
Maine |
1,354,522 |
31.19% |
6.5% |
14.0% |
7.60 |
|
6 |
Ohio |
11,714,618 |
31.08% |
6.4% |
12.0% |
6.68 |
|
7 |
Rhode Island |
1,061,509 |
31.02% |
6.2% |
11.0% |
6.20 |
|
8 |
Illinois |
12,569,321 |
30.77% |
5.8% |
10.0% |
5.12 |
|
9 |
Montana |
1,085,004 |
30.69% |
6.1% |
12.0% |
5.60 |
|
10 |
New York |
19,299,981 |
30.50% |
5.8% |
9.0% |
4.96 |
The research, conducted by Aging in Place, analyzed various factors, from the number of single-person households to the number of people searching for friendship apps, to discover which states struggle the most with loneliness.
You can read the research in full here:
https://aginginplace.org/loneliest-states/
