A new study from the site Aging in Place has revealed the loneliest states in America—and the results will surprise you. Maine and Florida were named the loneliest places in America, while Utah and Alaska ranked at the bottom of the list, making them the least lonely states.
The timing of the study makes sense, given that loneliness is on the rise right now. The American Medical Association has identified loneliness as a public health issue that intensified during the pandemic. According to a recent report from the World Health Organization, periods of isolation and quarantine have triggered a 25% spike in anxiety and depression.
The impacts of loneliness can be profound: “Social isolation and loneliness can have a devastating impact on our mental and physical health,” says Dr. Ann Sullivan, the commissioner of the New York State Office of Mental Health. The health risks tied to loneliness are worse than obesity, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption or smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day.
Aging in Place’s list of the loneliest places in America was based on multiple factors, including the number of single-person households, the number of people searching for friendship and dating apps and the number of people widowed or divorced.
It turns out that Maine is the loneliest place in America. Why? Although Maine has plenty of small, tight-knit communities, it also has a very high percentage of single-person households and 14% of the population is divorced—the highest in the nation—resulting in a large proportion of people living alone.
“I was personally surprised by some of the metrics. For some reason, Maine is the the first state that comes to mind when I think about divorce rate, I would have guessed California or New York first,” says Zeke Harker, outreach associate at Aging in Place.
Florida came in second on the list, as the second most lonely place in America. A big part of the reason: Florida’s retiree community is made up of a lot of widows and divorcees, leading to a higher loneliness score for the Sunshine State. Harker says this didn’t surprise him as much: “I will say that with Florida having such a large population of seniors, we did expect Florida to have one of the higher rates of widowed adults and yet three states had greater percentages of widowed adults than Florida.”
Ohio fared third worst. According to the Aging in Place study, searches for dating apps in Ohio were particularly high, signaling a desire for companionship across the state.
As for the least lonely state in America? That title goes to Utah, where more than half of Utahans identify with Mormonism. According to Aging in Place, a prevalent Mormon culture likely contributes to the state’s low percentage of divorce and single-person households.
The second least lonely place in America is Alaska—which is ironically the largest state by landmass and the most sparsely populated state with only a little over 724,000 residents. According to Aging in Place, Alaska has a particularly low share of widows and widowers.
“Utah and Alaska each had the lowest metrics for at least one of our factors for loneliness. Utah has the lowest percentage of single person homes, and Alaska had the lowest percentage of people widowed” says Harker. “These metrics do give some unique insights into behavioral trends of the citizens of these states, and while AgingInPlace.org is not an authority on this, certainly this would be interesting data for sociologists to examine further.”
Rounding out the list of the three least loneliest states in America is Hawaii. The Aloha State made it into this spot due to the fact that it has relatively few divorced couples.
You can see the entire list here, including stats like the place with the highest proportion of single-person households (Washington D.C. was at the top), the states with the highest proportion of windowed people (West Virginia was number one), the states with the most interest in dating apps (New Hampshire was the winner) and more.
Keep reading for the ranking of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, starting with the loneliest place, and ending with the least lonely state.
Ranked: The Loneliest Places In America
1. Maine
2. Florida
3. Ohio
4. New Mexico
5. Vermont
6. Pennsylvania
7. Oregon (tied for 7th place)
7. Rhode Island (tied for 7th place)
9. Delaware
10. District of Columbia
11. Michigan
12. Nevada
13. Missouri (tied for 13th place)
13. Montana (tied for 13th place)
15. Indiana
16. Wisconsin (tied for 16th place)
16. West Virginia (tied for 16th place)
18. Kentucky
19. Arkansas
20. Illinois
21. Tennessee (tied for 21st place)
21. New York (tied for 21st place)
23. Colorado (tied for 23rd place)
23. North Carolina (tied for 23rd place)
23. South Carolina (tied for 23rd place)
23. Alabama (tied for 23rd place)
27. Oklahoma
28. Louisiana
29. Arizona
30. Washington
31. Connecticut
32. Iowa
33. Mississippi
34. Minnesota
35. New Hampshire
36. Massachusetts
37. Nebraska
38. New Jersey
39. North Dakota
40. Maryland
41. Kansas
42. South Dakota
43. Georgia
44. Virginia
45. Wyoming
46. Idaho
47. Texas
48. California
49. Hawaii
50. Alaska
51. Utah
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