Short answer: loneliness in adults is common. In Gallup’s late-2024 survey, one in five US adults said they had felt lonely “a lot of the day yesterday,” and the World Health Organization estimates that about one in six people worldwide are affected by loneliness. It’s more common among younger adults and people with lower incomes, and it often follows life changes such as a move, a breakup or a switch to remote work. The good news is that small, regular in-person contact helps most people. This guide covers what the data shows, how loneliness shows up at different life stages, warning signs to watch for and a simple weekly plan.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you’re struggling, a doctor or therapist can help, and crisis support is listed below.
How common is loneliness in adults?
Several large surveys measure loneliness in slightly different ways, so the numbers aren’t directly comparable. Taken together, though, they point in the same direction: a sizable minority of adults feel lonely regularly.
| Source | When | Who | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup | Aug. 27 to Sept. 4, 2024 | 6,289 US adults | 20% felt loneliness “a lot of the day yesterday,” up two points from the prior quarter |
| Gallup | Feb. 21 to 28, 2023 | 5,167 US adults | 17% overall; 24% of adults under 30 and 27% of those in households earning under $24,000 a year; 25% at the pandemic high in March 2021 |
| Pew Research Center | July 2023 | US adults | 8% said they had no close friends; 53% had one to four |
| WHO Commission on Social Connection | Report released June 30, 2025 | Global estimate | About 1 in 6 people affected by loneliness; around 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults |
Figures as published by each source; last checked October 2026.
Two patterns stand out. First, loneliness is not just a problem of old age: in Gallup’s 2023 data, adults under 30 reported daily loneliness more often than the average adult. Second, it moves with circumstances. Gallup’s numbers peaked during the pandemic and fell afterward, which suggests that when people’s routines bring them back into contact with others, loneliness drops. It can also show up differently for different groups; our guide to loneliness in men looks at one of them.
The WHO’s 2025 report also links loneliness and social isolation to higher risks for physical and mental health problems and estimates more than 871,000 deaths a year associated with loneliness worldwide. We won’t repeat the health research here; the practical point is that loneliness is worth treating as a real problem, not a personal weakness.
Loneliness vs being alone
Loneliness is a feeling: the painful gap between the connection you want and the connection you have. Social isolation is a fact: having few contacts or little time with others. The two often overlap, but not always. You can feel lonely while living with a partner or working in a busy office, and you can live alone and feel well connected.
This matters because the fix depends on which one you’re dealing with. If you have plenty of contact but none of it feels close, the answer is usually deepening a few relationships. If you have very little contact, the first step is simply more regular time around people.
How loneliness shows up at different life stages
In your 20s
Leaving school or college removes the daily, unplanned contact that friendships ran on. Friends scatter for jobs, and new cities don’t come with a social network attached. Many people in their 20s also compare themselves with highly curated social media feeds, which can make ordinary gaps feel like failure. Our guide on why it’s hard to make friends as an adult explains what changes after school and how to rebuild it.
In your 30s and 40s
Careers, relationships and children take up more time, and friendships that aren’t scheduled tend to fade. Couples may socialize only as a pair. Parents often have lots of contact (school, activities) but little of it is with people they feel close to, which can be a lonely kind of busy.
After a move
Moving cuts you off from most of the people you saw regularly, even if you keep in touch online. The first few months are often the hardest, because you’re starting from zero and every social step requires effort. Our 12-week plan for moving to a new city alone is designed for this stage.
When working remotely
Remote and hybrid work remove many small daily interactions: the coffee-machine chat, the lunch invitation, the walk out of the building. Some remote workers barely notice; others find that weeks pass with very little in-person contact. If you work from home, it helps to build contact into your week deliberately, for example by working from a cafe or library a couple of mornings a week.
After a breakup, divorce or loss
Losing a partner often means losing a shared social circle and a daily companion at the same time. Bereavement can be especially isolating, because friends may not know what to say and pull back. Reconnecting with people you’ve drifted from can be easier than meeting new people at this stage; our guide on how to reconnect with old friends has scripts for the first message.
Warning signs of loneliness
Loneliness doesn’t always feel like “I’m lonely.” It can show up as:
- Weeks passing without a real conversation with someone you feel close to.
- Scrolling social media for hours but feeling worse afterward.
- Looking forward to work or errands mainly because they involve other people.
- Turning down invitations, then feeling left out when nobody invites you again.
- Feeling that nobody really knows you, even when you’re around people.
- Trouble sleeping, low energy or irritability without an obvious cause.
- A strong sense of being on the outside of other people’s lives.
Occasional loneliness is part of life. If several of these have been true for weeks, it’s a sign to act, and if loneliness comes with persistent low mood, hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm, please talk to a professional.
A weekly plan for loneliness in adults
The research on what helps points to a simple principle: regular, in-person contact with the same people. One great evening helps for a day; a weekly routine changes the baseline. Here’s a plan that takes about three to five hours a week.
| Day | Action | Time | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Message one person you’ve drifted from with a specific suggestion | 10 minutes | Restarts an existing connection, which is easier than starting from zero |
| Tuesday | Work, read or have coffee at the same cafe or library as last week | 1 hour | Familiar faces build a sense of belonging |
| Wednesday | A recurring activity: class, league, run club or volunteer shift | 2 hours | Repeated time with the same group is how friendships form |
| Thursday | A short call or walk with a friend or family member | 30 minutes | Keeps close ties close |
| Weekend | One plan you suggest: a meal, a walk or a game with one to three people | 2 hours | Moves acquaintances toward friendship |
You don’t need every row from the start. If you’re low on energy, begin with Monday and Wednesday and add one row every two weeks. If you’re unsure where to begin with the recurring activity, our guide on how to meet new people ranks 15 methods by cost and effort, and our article on third places explains how to find a regular spot.
Small steps that help on hard days
- Go somewhere with people around, even if you don’t talk: a library, a park, a busy cafe.
- Have one small interaction: thank the barista by name, chat with a neighbor for a minute.
- Do something kind for someone else. Helping others is one of the most reliable ways to feel connected.
- Limit doomscrolling, especially late at night.
- Get outside and move. A walk won’t fix loneliness, but it makes the next step easier.
What usually doesn’t help
- Waiting until you feel ready. Loneliness tends to make people more cautious about others, which makes it harder to reach out. Acting first and feeling better later is the usual order.
- Relying only on online contact. Messaging can maintain friendships, but it rarely replaces the effect of being in the same room.
- One big social event. A party or reunion can be fun, but without follow-up it doesn’t change your week-to-week life.
- Blaming yourself. Much adult loneliness comes from circumstances: moves, schedules, remote work. Treat it as a logistics problem you can solve, not a character flaw.
A worked example: four weeks
Here’s how the weekly plan can look in practice for Sam (a composite example): 29, works from home for a company in another state, moved for a partner’s job a year ago, and realized recently that most weeks include no in-person conversation beyond the grocery checkout.
- Week 1: Sam texts a college friend who lives an hour away to suggest lunch halfway between them, and starts working from the same branch library on Tuesday mornings. That’s two small steps, about two hours in total.
- Week 2: Sam signs up for an eight-week beginner pottery class on Wednesday evenings at a community arts center, choosing a class rather than open studio time so the same people are there every week.
- Week 3: At the second class, Sam asks the person at the next wheel how long they’ve been doing pottery. The conversation is short, but next week they say hello by name.
- Week 4: Sam suggests to two classmates that they grab tacos after class at the place across the street, each paying for their own. One says yes. It’s a 45-minute dinner, and they agree to do it again after the next class.
After four weeks, nothing dramatic has happened, and that’s the point. Sam now has one standing plan, two familiar faces and a lunch on the calendar with an old friend. Loneliness rarely disappears in a month, but routines like this change the baseline: there’s always something on the calendar that involves other people, which makes the next step easier.
Talking about loneliness
Many adults feel embarrassed to admit they’re lonely, which keeps them from asking for exactly the help that would work. You don’t need to make a big announcement. Simple, honest lines work well:
- “I’ve been pretty isolated since the move. Want to get dinner next week?”
- “Working from home has made me a bit of a hermit. Any chance you’re free for a walk on Saturday?”
- “I’m trying to get out more. If you’re ever going to something and need company, count me in.”
Most people respond warmly, partly because many of them feel the same way. And if you notice someone else withdrawing, a specific invitation (a day, a place, an activity) is more helpful than a general “let me know if you need anything.”
When to get extra support
Talk to a doctor, therapist or counselor if loneliness has lasted for months, if it’s affecting your sleep, work or health, or if it comes with persistent sadness or anxiety. Many employers offer free, confidential counseling through an employee assistance program. Our guide on how to cope with loneliness has more coping strategies.
If you’re in crisis: in the US, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8. Both are free and available 24 hours a day. If you’re in immediate danger, call 911.
Meeting people safely
When your plan involves meeting someone new, keep the first few meetings simple: choose a public place, tell a friend where you’re going and who you’re meeting, arrange your own way home and leave whenever you feel uncomfortable.
From feeling lonely to having plans
The hardest part of the weekly plan is usually the weekend row: suggesting a plan yourself. It helps when the plan is specific (a place, a time, a small group) and when everyone knows up front who pays.
Want to turn this into an actual plan? MeetNow is a free app for meeting people in person: a host posts a plan at a public place, says who pays (host pays, split, pay your own or free) and picks who joins. It is live on the web now, starting in Malta, with the phone apps on the way: open MeetNow and see the plans near you.
FAQ: loneliness in adults
How common is loneliness in adults?
In Gallup’s survey of US adults in late August and early September 2024, 20% said they had felt loneliness a lot of the previous day. Worldwide, the World Health Organization’s 2025 Commission on Social Connection estimated that about 1 in 6 people are affected by loneliness.
Which adults are most likely to feel lonely?
In Gallup’s February 2023 survey, adults under 30 (24%) and people in households earning under $24,000 a year (27%) reported daily loneliness more often than average. Life events such as moving, a breakup, bereavement or switching to remote work also raise the risk.
Is loneliness the same as being alone?
No. Loneliness is the painful feeling of a gap between the connection you want and the connection you have. Social isolation is the objective lack of contact. You can feel lonely in a crowd or be content living alone.
What helps with loneliness in adults?
Small, regular in-person contact helps most people: a weekly activity with the same group, a standing call or walk with a friend, becoming a regular somewhere, and helping others through volunteering. If loneliness comes with persistent low mood or hopelessness, talk to a doctor or therapist.
Where can I get help right away if I feel hopeless?
In the US and Canada, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline in the US, 9-8-8 in Canada), available 24 hours a day. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
