America's capital, Washington DC, has been named as the loneliest city in the entire country, according to a new study from the Chamber of Commerce.
Analyis of US Census Bureau data revealed the disheartening statistics: among the 319,565 households in Washington, D.C., nearly half (48.2%) had just one occupant. Overall, 154,140 residents live "solo" in the nation's capital, with this applying to 21.5% of men and 26.7% of women.
Furthermore, the trend appears to be gathering steam, as the city is persistently "getting lonelier." Statistics don't lie: the number of people leading solitary household lives has increased 5.9% year-over-year since 2016, the survey showed.
The DC skyline, including the US Capitol and Washington Monument, are seen at sunset.
© AFP 2023 / SAUL LOEB
Across more than 170 cities of the United States with a population of at least 150,000, more than 36 million Americans (approximately 29 percent of all households) had just one occupant, continued the study.
The trend of living solo appeared to be driven by such factors as marriage being "placed on hold". Thus, in 2022, the average age when people tied the knot was 30.1 for men and 28.2 for women.
Incidentally, Fontana, a city in San Bernardino County, California, has been named as the least loneliest place to live, with only 11.1 percent of residents opting to live on their own. Here is a breakdown of the cities that made it into America's "lonesome" top ten.
Washington D.C.
St. Louis, Missouri
Alexandria, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
New Orleans, Louisiana
Birmingham, Alabama
Atlanta, Georgia
Baltimore, Maryland
The research added that the COVID-19 pandemic had invariably impacted many people’s lives, with some cities witnessing radical changes in living situations. As an example, it cited the number of people living alone in Cape Coral, Florida, which had soared by 42.8%, from 14,559 in 2019 to 20,787 in 2021. In Irving, Texa, there was a 31.7% percent increase during that same time period.
Incidentally, in 2022 the US Census Bureau named Washington DC as America's "Work from Home" capital, after discovering that 48.3 percent of employees were working remotely there.