Washington DC named as loneliest city in the US, new study finds

Misty Severi

January 06, 05:01 PM January 06, 05:01 PM

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The capital of the United States is the nation’s loneliest city, according to a new study that listed Fontana, California as the least lonely city.

The new study, which examined Census Bureau data from 170 cities across the country, revealed that almost half of the 319,565 households in Washington D.C. had only one occupant. The study was published by Chamber of Commerce and determined loneliness based on how many households in a city had just one occupant.

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The study also revealed that more than one in 10 people in the U.S. live alone. In Washington D.C., the loneliness number has increased by six percent in the past six years. The other four in the top five loneliest cities are: St. Louis, Alexandria and Richmond, Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio.

St. Louis’s numbers come despite a drop in loneliness by 3,000 households between 2021 and 2022.

Washington D.C. was also considered the number one “work from home” city by the census bureau. Forty eight percent of the D.C. population works remotely.

Breaking the recent study down further revealed Fort Lauderdale, Florida was considered the loneliest city for men, with nearly 25% of the men there living alone compared to 16.1% of women. Richmond, Virginia is the loneliest city for women with 28% of women living alone compared to 18% of men.

On the other end of the list are the least lonely cities in the country. Nine of the 10 least lonely cities are in California. At the top of the list are Fontana, Oxnard, Moreno Valley and Elk Grove. However, high housing prices could play a role in the low loneliness rating as roommates would yield lower costs. Rent in California is the third highest in the country behind New York and Hawaii, according to the Daily Mail.

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A TimeOut survey in 2022 found that the loneliest cities in the world were Stockholm, Sweden, Copenhagen in Denmark, and Sydney, Australia.