Silicon Valley may have just declared a public health emergency over the loneliness crisis and promised to promote social interaction, but the tech epicenter isn’t the place where people feel most isolated.
Americans are likely to be lonelier if they live in the state of Maine, a report suggests.
Health experts at Aging in place analyzed factors in all fifty states and the District of Columbia, including the number of single-person households and divorce rates—both of which can increase the risk of loneliness—to determine where in the country people were missing the most social connection.
The researchers then scored each state and calculated an average score for comparison.
They found that the Pine Tree State, which has one of the highest divorce rates in the country, was the loneliest – with a score of 7.6 out of 10.
Maine was considered the loneliest state, followed closely by Florida and Ohio. Meanwhile, Utah was the least lonely state, with Alaska and Hawaii close behind
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Florida and Ohio were close behind, taking second and third places with scores of 7 and 6.68 out of 10, respectively, which experts say could be due to the large retired population and high searches for friendship apps like Bumble BFF.
Utah, meanwhile, was named the least lonely state because its large Mormon population has led to low rates of divorce and single-person households.
The findings come as San Mateo County in California’s Silicon Valley this week became the first in the US to declare loneliness a public health emergency.
The US surgeon general has warned that America is facing a loneliness epidemic that health authorities say is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
The AginginPlace researchers wrote: ‘We are especially concerned about the physical and mental well-being of those who are vulnerable, so we wanted to find out where in the US people are experiencing loneliness most, and where people are best maintaining social connections.’
The team looked at data from the U.S. Census and national surveys to determine where states ranked in the following categories: population, percentage of single-person households, number of widowed people, number of divorced people, and searches for dating and friendship apps.
Each state was then given a score out of 10 based on how they scored in each category, and the researchers took an average.
Maine was considered the loneliest state and tied with Nevada for the highest divorce rate: 14 percent.
The Pine Tree State also has one of the lowest state populations in the US, with just 1.3 million residents. And 31 percent of them live in single-person households, which increases the risk of loneliness.
Additionally, the state saw the third highest number of dating app searches at 425,000 per year – which works out to about 3,125 per 10,000 people.
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Florida came in second, scoring seven out of 10. The researchers stated that because the Sunshine State has a large older retirement community, it increases the likelihood of residents being divorced or widowed.
According to the findings, seven percent of Florida residents are widowed, putting the country in the top five most widowed states. In addition, 13 percent of residents are divorced and 29 percent live alone.
Ohio came in third with a total score of 6.68. Like Maine, about a third of residents live alone, but Ohioans long for company.
The state, home to 11.7 million people, saw more than three million searches on dating apps in 2021.
New Mexico was named the fourth loneliest state with a score of 6.60, while Vermont rounded out the top five at 6.28.
Vermont has the second-lowest total state population, with 623,251 residents.
It ranked third for singles (31.64 percent) and second for dating app searches, at 3,167 per 10,000 people.
Meanwhile, Utah was considered the least lonely state in the country, with a score of just 0.72 out of 10.
Utah had the lowest number of single-person households – 19.2 percent – and tied with several other states for the fewest segregated residents – nine percent.
“The state has a huge Mormon community, with more than half of Utahns identifying themselves as Mormons,” the researchers wrote.
‘This may contribute to the low number of divorces and single-person households.’
Alaska followed closely with a score of 2.32.
Although the state has one of the lowest populations in the U.S., with 724,000 residents, researchers found that the Last Frontier State had the lowest rate of residents who had lost a spouse: 3.8 percent.
Hawaii was considered the third least lonely state with a score of 2.56 out of 10.
The researchers said the low score could be due to the “spectacular beaches and weather to enjoy”, which could encourage people to get outside and socialize more.
And despite San Mateo County declaring loneliness a public health emergency, researchers found that the county is in the top five least lonely states.
California, the most populous U.S. state with 39.6 million residents, ranked 48th loneliest, even though its residents had the second-highest number of searches for friendship apps.
Last year, US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy declared loneliness the next major public health crisis, claiming social isolation was as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Dr. Murthy said social isolation had “profound health and social consequences,” including a 30 percent higher risk of heart disease.
He said: ‘We have an obligation to make the same investments in rebuilding the social fabric of society that we have made in tackling other global health challenges, such as tobacco use, obesity and the addiction crisis.’