Loneliness in America 2026
Loneliness in America has quietly grown into one of the most pressing and underestimated public health crises of the 21st century. At its core, loneliness is more than just feeling alone — it is the painful gap between the social connections a person desires and the ones they actually have. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines it clearly: loneliness is the feeling of being alone, disconnected, or not close to others, and it can occur even when a person is surrounded by people. Unlike social isolation — which is the objective absence of social relationships — loneliness is deeply subjective, shaped by individual expectations, life circumstances, mental health, and access to community. What makes the American loneliness crisis particularly alarming is that it cuts across every age group, income bracket, race, and geographic region, revealing a structural problem embedded in how millions of people live, work, and move through daily life.
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy officially declared loneliness a national epidemic — a landmark moment that placed the issue firmly within the conversation about public health, economic productivity, and national well-being. His office published a comprehensive advisory showing that approximately 1 in 2 U.S. adults reports measurable levels of loneliness, and that the consequences reach far beyond emotional discomfort. As of 2026, data from the CDC, HHS, NIH, and the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey paint a sobering picture: loneliness remains rampant, particularly among younger adults, lower-income Americans, and those living with chronic health conditions. The conversation around loneliness statistics 2026 is no longer fringe — it is now central to healthcare policy, workplace wellness, and community planning across the United States.
Interesting Key Facts About Loneliness in the US 2026
| Key Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Loneliness declared a national epidemic | U.S. Surgeon General issued a formal advisory in May 2023 (HHS) |
| Health risk equivalent | Loneliness is comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes per day (HHS/Surgeon General Advisory) |
| 1 in 2 U.S. adults | Approximately 50% of adults report measurable levels of loneliness (Surgeon General, HHS 2023) |
| 1 in 3 U.S. adults | About 33% of all adults in the U.S. report feeling lonely (CDC) |
| 1 in 4 U.S. adults | About 25% of adults report lacking social and emotional support (CDC) |
| Gen Z loneliness rate | 67% of Gen Z classified as lonely — the highest of any generation (Cigna/Evernorth, 2025) |
| Young adult serious loneliness | 61% of adults aged 18–25 identify as seriously lonely (Harvard Graduate School of Education) |
| Premature mortality risk | Social isolation increases risk of premature death by 29% (HHS Surgeon General Advisory) |
| Dementia risk | Chronic loneliness and social isolation increase dementia risk by approximately 50% in older adults (CDC) |
| Heart disease and stroke risk | Social isolation increases heart disease risk by 29% and stroke risk by 32% (HHS) |
| Medicare cost burden | Social isolation among older adults costs Medicare an estimated $6.7 billion annually (AARP Research) |
| 57% of Americans lonely | More than half of all U.S. adults surveyed report feeling lonely (Cigna Loneliness in America 2025) |
| 40.3% feel lonely at least sometimes | 2024 U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey finding |
| Zero friends | In 2024, 17% of Americans said they have zero friends, up from just 1% in 1990 (Survey Center on American Life) |
| Workplace loneliness | 52% of U.S. workers report feeling lonely at work (Cigna 2025) |
| Teens and high schoolers | Only 58% of U.S. high school students felt they received the social and emotional support they needed (CDC, 2021–2023 data) |
Source: CDC, HHS Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, AARP Research, Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025
These facts reveal something most people never expected: loneliness in America 2026 is not just an old-age problem or a personality flaw — it is a measurable, widespread condition that intersects directly with physical health outcomes, economic loss, and long-term survival. The Surgeon General’s comparison to smoking 15 cigarettes a day is not rhetoric — it is backed by decades of epidemiological research tracking mortality outcomes among socially disconnected adults. The finding that 17% of Americans now report having zero friends — compared to just 1% in 1990 — exposes a dramatic unraveling of America’s social fabric over the past three decades, driven by shifts in how people work, move, communicate digitally, and build community. The fact that more than half the U.S. adult population is now classified as lonely means that loneliness has crossed from a personal condition into a defining characteristic of American life in 2026.
What also stands out is the sheer scale of the economic and healthcare burden. Social isolation costing Medicare $6.7 billion per year just for older adults represents only a fraction of the total financial toll. Workplace loneliness alone — affecting 52% of workers — is linked to stress-related absences estimated to cost employers approximately $154 billion annually. These numbers confirm that the US loneliness epidemic is not simply a mental health issue to be addressed in therapy offices — it is a systemic challenge that demands attention from policymakers, employers, healthcare providers, and communities at every level.
Overall Loneliness Prevalence in the US 2026
| Metric | Percentage / Number | Data Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. adults reporting measurable loneliness | ~50% (1 in 2) | HHS Surgeon General Advisory, 2023 |
| U.S. adults feeling lonely | ~33% (1 in 3) | CDC Social Connectedness Data |
| Adults lacking social and emotional support | ~25% (1 in 4) | CDC |
| Americans reporting loneliness “at least sometimes” | 40.3% | U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, 2024 |
| Americans lonely “a lot of the day” | ~20% (1 in 5) | Gallup, 2024 |
| Americans classified as lonely (broad measure) | 57% | Cigna Loneliness in America 2025 |
| Moderate-to-severe loneliness among U.S. adults | 37.4% | 2022 HINTS-6, published in ScienceDirect/NIH-linked journal, 2025 |
| Adults reporting loneliness and meaningless relationships | 47% | Cigna National Survey |
| Adults who eat all meals alone | 57% | Survey data cited by CDC-affiliated research |
| Americans with zero friends (2024) | 17% | Survey Center on American Life, 2024 |
Source: CDC, HHS Surgeon General Advisory, U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, Gallup 2024, Cigna/Evernorth 2025, NIH-linked HINTS-6 Study 2025
The overall prevalence of loneliness in the United States as of 2026 is staggering — and the variation in reported percentages across different surveys reflects the complexity of measuring an inherently subjective feeling. CDC data places approximately 1 in 3 adults as reporting loneliness, while broader measures — such as the Cigna/Evernorth 2025 national survey of over 7,500 U.S. adults — classify 57% of Americans as lonely when applying validated loneliness scales. The 2024 U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, one of the most authoritative government sources, found 40.3% of Americans feel lonely at least sometimes. Meanwhile, the scientifically validated HINTS-6 study published in a peer-reviewed NIH-affiliated journal found 37.4% of adults experiencing moderate-to-severe loneliness, with 14.0% suffering severe loneliness. Whichever measure one uses, the conclusion is the same: loneliness affects a substantial and persistent share of the U.S. population.
What these numbers also reveal is the hidden depth of the crisis. The 17% with zero friends in 2024 — compared to just 1% in 1990 — signals a collapse in informal social networks that once served as buffers against loneliness. The figure that 57% of Americans eat all meals alone speaks to the growing reality of isolated daily routines. Even among those who technically have social networks, 47% report their relationships feel meaningless — a form of relational loneliness that is arguably harder to diagnose and treat than simple isolation. Together, these metrics confirm that the loneliness epidemic in the US is not receding; it is deepening and diversifying.
Loneliness by Age Group in the US 2026
| Age Group | Loneliness Rate / Key Finding | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Gen Z (18–25) | 67% classified as lonely; 61% reporting serious loneliness | Cigna/Evernorth 2025; Harvard GSE |
| Ages 18–34 | 30% feel lonely every day or several times per week | Multiple survey sources, 2024 |
| Ages 18–34 | 48% reported feeling isolated | AARP/UHF Survey 2020 (cited in NIH PMC 2024) |
| Millennials (26–41) | 65% classified as lonely | Cigna/Evernorth 2025 |
| Gen X (42–57) | 60% classified as lonely | Cigna/Evernorth 2025 |
| Ages 50–80 (2024) | 33.4% felt a lack of companionship some of the time or often | University of Michigan / JAMA, 2024 |
| Ages 50–80 (2020, pandemic peak) | 41.4% reported lack of companionship | University of Michigan / JAMA, 2024 |
| Older adults (65+) | ~17% report loneliness regularly | Multiple surveys |
| High school students (US) | Only 58% felt they received adequate social/emotional support | CDC, 2021–2023 YRBSS data |
| Seniors with mental health conditions | 61% report loneliness/isolation once a week or more | PAN Foundation National Poll |
Source: Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025, University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (published in JAMA, Dec 2024), CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2021–2023, Harvard Graduate School of Education, PAN Foundation
One of the most counterintuitive — and troubling — findings in loneliness research 2026 is that younger Americans are lonelier than older Americans. The stereotype of the isolated elderly person does not hold up to scrutiny: Gen Z reports the highest loneliness rates of any generation at 67%, followed by Millennials at 65% and Gen X at 60%. This pattern holds across multiple major independent surveys. Among adults aged 50 to 80, the most rigorously tracked older adult segment through the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging — published in JAMA in December 2024 — the loneliness rate stands at 33.4% as of March 2024, actually lower than Gen Z’s rate. The high school data from the CDC is equally sobering: only 58% of U.S. high school students said they received the social and emotional support they needed, meaning 42% were not getting what they needed during formative developmental years.
Researchers and public health experts point to several structural reasons for young adult loneliness. Over the past 20 years, young adults have reduced in-person social time from roughly 150 minutes per day to just 40 minutes, while time spent in isolation has increased by 24 hours per month. The shift toward digital-first socializing, the economic pressures that force frequent relocation, delayed traditional life milestones like marriage and homeownership, and the mental health burden of social comparison via curated social media feeds all compound to make young adult loneliness in the US a deeply entrenched structural reality in 2026.
Health Effects of Loneliness in the US 2026
| Health Condition / Risk | Increased Risk / Finding | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Premature death / early mortality | 29% increased risk of premature mortality from social isolation | HHS Surgeon General Advisory, 2023 |
| Heart disease | 29% increased risk from poor social relationships and social isolation | HHS / Surgeon General Advisory |
| Stroke | 32% increased risk from social isolation and loneliness | HHS / Surgeon General Advisory |
| Dementia | ~50% increased risk of developing dementia in older adults from chronic loneliness | CDC; HHS |
| Depression and anxiety | Strongly associated; loneliness linked to 2.3x higher depression risk in studies | JAMA Pediatrics 2022 (cited in NIH-affiliated research) |
| Type 2 diabetes | Smaller social network size associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes | HHS Surgeon General Advisory |
| Suicidality and self-harm | Loneliness significantly increases risk; listed as a health risk factor by CDC | CDC Social Connectedness data |
| Sleep disruption | Lonely individuals show notably poorer sleep quality and more nighttime waking | CDC-affiliated and peer-reviewed research |
| Social isolation and mortality | Objectively isolated beneficiaries had 31% greater risk of death | NIH/PMC Medicare study |
| Immune function & viral illness | Loneliness and poor social support significantly worsen illness severity after viral exposure | HHS Surgeon General Advisory |
Source: HHS Office of the Surgeon General Advisory 2023, CDC Social Connectedness and Health Effects pages, NIH/PMC peer-reviewed Medicare longitudinal study
The health consequences of loneliness in the United States are not peripheral — they are on par with the most recognized lifestyle risk factors in modern medicine. The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory made global headlines by equating the mortality risk of social isolation to smoking 15 cigarettes per day — and this comparison is backed by rigorous epidemiological evidence. A 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of dementia in older adults are findings grounded in scientific literature cited by both the CDC and HHS. These are not marginal associations — they are risks large enough to reshape clinical care protocols. The CDC explicitly lists suicidality and self-harm, Type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, and early death among the established health consequences of social isolation and loneliness.
What makes these findings especially urgent for US loneliness in 2026 is that the health risks compound over time. Objectively isolated older adults — those who lack actual social contact, not just the feeling of loneliness — face a 31% greater risk of death compared to well-connected peers, even after adjusting for baseline health, income, and demographics, according to a longitudinal Medicare-linked NIH study. Immune vulnerability is also increasingly documented: the Surgeon General’s Advisory specifically notes that loneliness and poor social support substantially increase illness severity following viral exposure — a finding with major implications in a post-COVID landscape. Collectively, the health effects of loneliness in America represent a burden that the healthcare system is only beginning to formally reckon with.
Loneliness Among Older Adults in the US 2026
| Metric | Finding | Data Source / Year |
|---|---|---|
| Adults 50–80 lacking companionship (2024) | 33.4% some of the time or often | University of Michigan National Poll / JAMA, Dec 2024 |
| Adults 50–80 feeling isolated (2024) | 29.2% felt isolated from others | University of Michigan National Poll / JAMA, Dec 2024 |
| Adults 50–80 lacking companionship (pandemic peak 2020) | 41.4% | University of Michigan National Poll / JAMA, Dec 2024 |
| Adults 50–80 feeling isolated (pandemic peak 2020) | 55.7% | University of Michigan National Poll / JAMA, Dec 2024 |
| Seniors with mental health condition reporting loneliness weekly | 61% | PAN Foundation National Poll |
| Seniors with chronic illness/cancer reporting loneliness weekly | 48% | PAN Foundation National Poll |
| Older adults 65+ reporting regular loneliness | ~17% | Multiple national surveys |
| Older adults with severe loneliness and poor mental health | 75% reported significant isolation | Multiple survey sources |
| Medicare excess cost from social isolation (older adults) | $6.7 billion annually | AARP Research / Frontiers in Public Health 2024 |
| Mortality increase for objectively isolated Medicare beneficiaries | 31% greater risk of death | NIH PMC peer-reviewed Medicare longitudinal study |
Source: University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (JAMA, December 2024), PAN Foundation National Poll, AARP Research, Frontiers in Public Health 2024, NIH/PMC Medicare longitudinal study
The University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging — published in JAMA in December 2024 — provides the most current and rigorously tracked portrait of loneliness among older Americans. As of March 2024, 33.4% of adults aged 50 to 80 report a lack of companionship some of the time or often, and 29.2% report feeling isolated from others. These figures represent a meaningful improvement from the pandemic peak in 2020, when 41.4% reported lacking companionship and a striking 55.7% reported feeling isolated — showing that while the crisis has eased since COVID-19’s acute phase, it remains far above pre-pandemic levels. Older adults who are not working, those living alone, and those with lower household incomes report the highest rates, with those in fair or poor mental health reaching a rate of 75% reporting significant feelings of isolation.
The economic implications are staggering. Social isolation among older adults costs Medicare an estimated $6.7 billion per year in additional spending, driven largely by increased inpatient and nursing home care among those who lack social networks. A longitudinal NIH-linked Medicare study found that objectively isolated beneficiaries had a 31% greater risk of death than those with adequate social contact, even after controlling for health status and demographics. For policymakers and healthcare providers in 2026, this data is a clear call to treat older adult loneliness not as an inevitable feature of aging, but as a preventable and costly public health condition deserving of targeted clinical and community-based intervention.
Loneliness by Gender and Marital Status in the US 2026
| Demographic Group | Key Finding | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Single adults | 39% feel lonely weekly | National survey data |
| Married adults | 22% feel lonely weekly | National survey data |
| Unmarried individuals | Nearly twice as likely to report loneliness compared to married counterparts | Multiple national surveys |
| Caregivers ages 18–32 | 72% classified as lonely | Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025 |
| Caregivers ages 45–64 | 59% classified as lonely | Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025 |
| Workers reporting loneliness | 52% of all U.S. workers feel lonely | Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025 |
| Parents of young children / caregivers | Approximately two-thirds classified as lonely | Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025 |
| LGBTQ+ individuals | Report loneliness more often than other groups; highest rates in BRFSS 2022 MMWR study | CDC MMWR, June 2024 |
| Gay or lesbian identity | Consistently associated with higher odds of moderate-to-severe loneliness | 2022 HINTS-6 Study, ScienceDirect/NIH-affiliated, 2025 |
| Adults living alone | Among the highest-risk groups for loneliness and social isolation | CDC; University of Michigan JAMA study 2024 |
Source: Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025, CDC MMWR Vol. 73 No. 24 (June 2024), 2022 HINTS-6 Study published ScienceDirect 2025, University of Michigan National Poll / JAMA December 2024
Marital status and caregiving roles are among the most powerful predictors of loneliness in the United States. The gap between single and married adults is striking: 39% of single adults report weekly loneliness compared to just 22% of married adults, confirming that the structure of one’s household and primary relationship status has a direct bearing on daily feelings of connection. Unmarried individuals — including those who are divorced, widowed, or never married — are nearly twice as likely to report loneliness, a finding consistent across multiple major national surveys. Among caregivers, a perhaps surprising pattern emerges: younger caregivers aged 18 to 32 are lonelier than their older counterparts, with 72% classified as lonely, compared to 59% of caregivers aged 45 to 64. This reflects the emotional and time burden of unpaid caregiving when it falls on young adults who are simultaneously navigating career building and social development.
The CDC MMWR report from June 2024 — drawing on 2022 BRFSS data from 26 states and 218,915 participants — underscores that LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly those identifying as gay or lesbian, experience the highest rates of loneliness and lack of social and emotional support among all demographic groups examined. The peer-reviewed HINTS-6 study published in 2025 confirms this, finding that gay or lesbian identity was among the strongest independent predictors of moderate-to-severe loneliness even after adjusting for income, health, and marital status. Adults living alone appear throughout government data as a consistently high-risk group — a pattern that will likely intensify as solo-living households continue to grow as a share of American households in 2026.
Loneliness by Income and Race in the US 2026
| Demographic / Income Group | Key Finding | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with income below $25,000/year | Scored 7.2 points higher on loneliness scale than those earning above $125,000 | Cigna National Survey |
| Low-income adults (under $24,000/year) | 27% report experiencing loneliness daily | National survey data 2024 |
| Financial stress and loneliness | 32% of financially stressed adults report high loneliness vs. 15% of financially stable | Global survey comparisons |
| Non-Hispanic White adults | Lower prevalence of most adverse social determinants vs. other racial groups | CDC MMWR 2024 (BRFSS 2022) |
| Hispanic/Latino Americans | 74% report feelings of loneliness | National survey data |
| Black college students | 20% higher loneliness rates than white peers | 2022 Healthy Minds Study |
| Indigenous/American Indian youth | Highest co-occurrence of loneliness with suicidality and self-harm of any racial group | NIH PMC / Crisis Text Line data 2024 |
| Racial/ethnic minorities (broadly) | Majority of adverse social determinant rates significantly higher vs. non-Hispanic White adults | CDC MMWR Vol. 73, No. 9 (March 2024) |
| Immigrant populations | More likely to experience loneliness; Latino immigrants have fewer social ties than U.S.-born Latinos | CDC Social Connectedness; HHS data |
| Adults not working | Among the highest-risk groups for loneliness across all age brackets | University of Michigan / JAMA 2024 |
Source: Cigna National Survey, CDC MMWR Vol. 73 No. 9 (March 7, 2024) — BRFSS 2022 Social Determinants of Health data, NIH PMC Crisis Text Line study (2024), 2022 Healthy Minds Study, University of Michigan National Poll / JAMA December 2024
Income is one of the most reliable predictors of loneliness in the United States. The Cigna national survey data shows that adults earning below $25,000 per year score a full 7.2 points higher on validated loneliness scales than those earning above $125,000 — a gap wide enough to represent meaningfully different lived experiences of social connection. Among the poorest Americans earning under $24,000 annually, 27% report experiencing loneliness daily — a rate nearly double that seen in financially stable populations. This is not simply because low-income individuals have fewer material resources; financial stress itself generates anxiety, social withdrawal, and reduced capacity for maintaining relationships, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of isolation and poverty.
On race and ethnicity, the CDC’s 2024 MMWR report drawing on the 2022 BRFSS Social Determinants of Health module — one of the most comprehensive government surveys of its kind, covering 39 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — found that the majority of adverse social determinant rates, including loneliness and lack of social and emotional support, were significantly higher across all racial and ethnic groups compared to non-Hispanic White adults, with the exception of non-Hispanic Asian adults. Hispanic/Latino Americans face particularly high reported loneliness rates, with 74% reporting loneliness in national surveys, partly driven by immigration-related social disruption, language barriers, and reduced community integration. Indigenous youth face perhaps the starkest intersection of loneliness with harm: NIH-linked research using Crisis Text Line data found that American Indian/Alaska Native youth had the highest co-occurrence of loneliness with suicidality of any racial group — a finding that demands urgent, targeted public health investment in 2026.
Economic Cost of Loneliness in the US 2026
| Economic Impact | Estimated Cost / Finding | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare excess spending (older adults, social isolation) | $6.7 billion per year | AARP Research; Frontiers in Public Health 2024 |
| Total economic cost of loneliness (CDC estimate, annual) | $406 billion per year | CDC; New York State Office for the Aging citing CDC |
| Workplace stress-related absences linked to loneliness | Estimated $154 billion annually | Cigna/Evernorth 2025 |
| Total economic costs of loneliness/isolation across studies | Ranges from $2 billion to $25.2 billion per year (healthcare and productivity, international studies) | Systematic review, PubMed 2025 |
| Isolated Medicare beneficiaries — excess annual cost per person | +$1,644 per beneficiary per year | NIH/PMC Medicare longitudinal study |
| Lonely Medicare beneficiaries — adjusted spending | −$764 annually vs. non-lonely (after full health/demographic adjustment) | NIH/PMC Medicare longitudinal study |
| Workers who are lonely — workplace impact | More likely to be unfocused, miss work, and seek other employment | Cigna/Evernorth 2025 |
| Cost-effective interventions (group-based) | Group-based programs more cost-effective than individual ones | Systematic review, Journal of Value in Health, 2025 |
Source: AARP Research, New York State Office for the Aging (citing CDC), Cigna/Evernorth Loneliness in America 2025, NIH/PMC Medicare longitudinal study, Systematic literature review published in PubMed / Pharmacoeconomics journal 2025, Journal of Value in Health systematic review 2025
The economic cost of loneliness in the United States is staggering — and likely still underestimated. The CDC estimates that loneliness costs the U.S. economy approximately $406 billion per year, a figure that spans healthcare, productivity losses, and social service costs. This sits alongside the $6.7 billion in annual excess Medicare spending attributable specifically to social isolation among older adults — a figure calculated by AARP Research and confirmed by multiple peer-reviewed sources including a 2024 Frontiers in Public Health systematic review examining U.S. intergenerational programs. At the workplace level, the Cigna/Evernorth 2025 survey of over 7,500 U.S. adults found that 52% of workers feel lonely, and that stress-related absences attributable to loneliness cost employers an estimated $154 billion per year. Lonely employees are measurably less focused, more likely to miss work, and more likely to leave their jobs — costs that cascade through supply chains, team performance, and organizational culture.
A 2025 systematic literature review published in Pharmacoeconomics — one of the most comprehensive economic analyses of loneliness to date, covering studies from 2018 to 2024 — found that all but one study reported excess healthcare and productivity costs linked to loneliness and social isolation, ranging from $2 billion to $25.2 billion per year depending on methodology, population, and country. Importantly, a companion review published in the Journal of Value in Health in 2025 found that group-based loneliness interventions were consistently more cost-effective than individual-based approaches — a practical insight that should inform US public health spending in 2026 as the government begins to operationalize the Surgeon General’s framework for a National Strategy to Advance Social Connection.
Loneliness and Mental Health in the US 2026
| Mental Health Metric | Finding | Data Source |
|---|---|---|
| Loneliness and depression link | Lonely students and adults face 2.3x higher depression risk | JAMA Pediatrics 2022, cited in NIH-affiliated research |
| Young adults with loneliness and anxiety/depression | 63% of lonely young adults report significant anxiety or depression symptoms | CDC survey data / Chegg.org citing national data |
| Lonely adults reporting anxiety or depression | 81% of lonely adults report experiencing anxiety or depression | Multiple national surveys |
| Lonely workers — mental health | More likely to report stress, mental distress, and burnout | Cigna/Evernorth 2025 |
| BRFSS 2022 — loneliness and frequent mental distress | Loneliness significantly associated with frequent mental distress in 26-state study | CDC MMWR Vol. 73 No. 24, June 2024 |
| History of depression — BRFSS 2022 | Loneliness and lack of social support strongly correlated with history of depression across all groups | CDC MMWR Vol. 73 No. 24, June 2024 |
| LGBTQ+ and mental health | Highest prevalence of loneliness, frequent mental distress, and depression among SGM groups | CDC MMWR Vol. 73 No. 24, June 2024 |
| Lonely students and suicidal ideation | 52% of lonely students reported suicidal ideation vs. 15% of non-lonely students | 2021 ACHA Survey |
| Adults with fair/poor mental health and loneliness | 75% report significant feelings of isolation | Multiple survey sources |
| High school students and social support | Only 58% felt they received adequate social/emotional support | CDC, 2021–2023 YRBSS |
Source: CDC MMWR Vol. 73 No. 24 (June 20, 2024) — BRFSS 2022 data, CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2021–2023, JAMA Pediatrics 2022, 2021 American College Health Association (ACHA) Survey, Cigna/Evernorth 2025
The relationship between loneliness and mental health in the United States is among the most well-documented in all of epidemiology — and the 2024 CDC MMWR study based on the 2022 BRFSS provides the clearest current government-level evidence. Covering 218,915 participants across 26 states, the study found that loneliness is significantly and independently associated with frequent mental distress, psychological stress, and history of depression across all demographic groups — and that these associations are strongest among sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, who reported the highest prevalence of every negative mental health outcome examined. The data on college students is especially alarming: the 2021 American College Health Association survey found that 52% of lonely students reported suicidal ideation, compared to just 15% of non-lonely peers — a more-than-threefold difference that speaks to the acute danger loneliness poses for young adult mental health.
Among the general adult population, 81% of lonely adults report experiencing anxiety or depression, and for those aged 18 to 25 experiencing loneliness, 63% report significant anxiety or depression symptoms — forming an overlapping crisis of loneliness and mental health that is particularly pronounced in the years when adults are supposed to be building the social foundations of their adult lives. The CDC, via its Community & Connection mental health data page updated as recently as January 2026, acknowledges that social and emotional support is fundamental to mental health — and that gaps in this support disproportionately harm young people, low-income populations, and marginalized communities. In 2026, closing the gap between loneliness and accessible mental health care remains one of the most urgent tasks facing American public health.
Disclaimer: The data research report we present here is based on information found from various sources. We are not liable for any financial loss, errors, or damages of any kind that may result from the use of the information herein. We acknowledge that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything that has been represented.
