One is the loneliest number, and a study alleges that living alone is enough to dub D.C. the loneliest city in the U.S.
Alexandria, Virginia, trails D.C. as the third-loneliest city after St. Louis, while Richmond, Virginia, comes in fourth place and Baltimore 10th, according to rankings put together by the Chamber of Commerce, which provides digital resources to small businesses.
How did these cities earn the title of loneliest in the country? Chamber of Commerce analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to figure out which cities had the highest percentage of people who live alone.
It found 48.2% in D.C. lived alone, while it’s 46.5% in Alexandria. Further sorting of the data found that over 21.5% of men living in D.C., and 20.3% of men in Alexandria lived by themselves; while 26.7% of the women in D.C. and 26.2% of women in Alexandria lived alone.
Richmond, D.C. and Alexandria rank first through third, respectively, in terms of the highest percentage of women who lived alone. Six other cities around the country, including Birmingham, Alabama, and Toledo, Ohio, have a higher percentage of men who lived alone than D.C. does.
Which cities are the “least lonely” or have the least people who live alone, according to the ranking? Look West. Nine of the top 10 least loneliest cities are in California, with the top spot claimed by the city of Fontana.
You can see the full ranking on the Chamber of Commerce website.
