October 18, 2026 · 7 min read
Living Alone and Lonely? What 2026 Data Shows, and What Helps
People who live alone are about twice as likely to feel lonely. New 2026 data from Korea, England, the US and Australia, plus a practical plan that helps.
Living alone can be wonderful. Your space, your rules, your music at whatever volume you like. It can also be very quiet. If you have ever closed your front door at the end of the day and realised you have not spoken out loud in hours, you are far from the only one.
New data published this week from South Korea, alongside large surveys from England, the United States and Australia, paints a consistent picture: people who live alone are more likely to feel lonely, but most of them are not, and much of the gap seems to come down to missing everyday contact rather than the empty flat itself. Here is what the numbers say, and a practical plan for making a solo home feel less solitary.
The short answer: people who live alone are roughly twice as likely to feel lonely as people who live with others. In England, 38% of adults living alone felt lonely at least some of the time in 2024, versus 18% of those living with others. But living alone is not the same as being lonely, and small, regular contact makes a real difference.
What the 2026 data says
South Korea: 6 in 10 living alone feel lonely weekly
On October 14, 2026, The Korea Herald reported a PMI survey of 1,000 adults aged 20 to 59:
| Living alone | Living with others | |
|---|---|---|
| Felt lonely at least once a week (past six months) | 63% | 40.5% |
| No one to confide in | 47% | 29.3% |
| No one to turn to for help when needed | 44.8% | 25.2% |
| No one to casually talk to about everyday life | 31.9% | 19% |
That last row is telling. Almost a third of people living alone said they had nobody to chat with about ordinary things, the small talk that makes a day feel shared.
England: 38% vs 18%
The Health Survey for England 2024, published by NHS England, asked adults how often they felt lonely:
- 38% of adults living alone felt lonely at least some of the time, compared with 18% of those living with other adults or children.
- 14% of those living alone were chronically lonely (often or always), compared with 5% of those living with others.
- The gap was much bigger for men. 46% of men who lived alone felt lonely at least some of the time versus 15% of men living with others. For women it was 31% versus 21%.
- 19% of men living alone were chronically lonely, compared with 4% of men living with others.
If you are a man living alone and feeling it, the data says you have plenty of company in that feeling. We dig into why in the male loneliness epidemic.
United States: more than twice the national rate
In 2024, the US National Health Interview Survey asked about loneliness directly for the first time. An analysis posted as a medRxiv preprint (not yet peer reviewed) found that 4.9% of US adults felt lonely always or usually, while adults living alone reported 9.0%, more than twice the rate of people living with others.
The same paper makes an important point: "most adults living alone in these data were not frequently lonely, even though their risk was elevated."
Australia: shared housing is not automatically better
Ending Loneliness Together's State of the Nation 2026 report found people living alone were about two times more likely to be both lonely and socially isolated than people living with family. But it also found people in shared accommodation, such as housemates or student housing, were more likely to feel lonely than those living alone.
So a full house is not a fix on its own. As we explored in you can be lonely in a full house, what matters is feeling known, not just having people nearby.
Why living alone can feel lonely
Looking across these surveys, a few patterns stand out:
- Less "free" contact. When you live with people, conversation happens by accident: in the kitchen, over the TV, on the way out. Alone, every interaction has to be planned.
- The evening gap. Days are often busy. It is the hours after work, and the weekends, that feel longest.
- No one to tell the small stuff. A funny thing on the bus, a good lunch, an annoying email. Without someone to share it with, the day can feel unwitnessed.
- Help feels further away. The Korean data shows people living alone are much more likely to say they have no one to turn to.
- It is easy to withdraw. When no one notices you have stayed in all weekend, it is easier to keep doing it.
Living alone vs being lonely
It helps to separate the two:
| Living alone | Feeling lonely |
|---|---|
| A housing situation | A feeling that your connections fall short of what you want |
| Can be a choice you love | Is rarely chosen |
| Often comes with freedom and calm | Comes with an ache, sometimes restlessness |
| Can be balanced with a rich social life | Can happen anywhere, including in a busy home |
Plenty of people live alone happily. The goal is not to stop living alone, it is to build enough connection around it.
A practical plan for a solo home
Build a daily "touchpoint" habit
Aim for at least one real exchange a day that is not about work. A voice note to a friend, a call to a parent, a chat with a neighbour. It does not need to be long. The point is that someone hears from you, and you hear back.
Plan the evening, not just the weekend
If evenings are the hardest part, give them a shape: a class one night, a call another, cooking something properly on a third. Our guide to why loneliness hits harder at night has more ideas for the late hours.
Make your home easy to invite people into
A spare chair, a simple dish you can cook for two, a board game on the shelf. Lowering the effort of hosting makes it more likely you will do it.
Join one thing that repeats
A weekly run club, a language exchange, a volunteering shift. Repetition is what turns strangers into familiar faces.
Use your neighbourhood
Small, regular contact counts. Becoming a regular at a cafe, chatting to the same shopkeeper, saying hello on the stairs. These "weak ties" make a place feel like home.
Prepare for the hard seasons
Winter and the holidays can feel especially long when you live alone. If those months are tough for you, our guide to feeling lonely during the holidays has a plan you can start now.
Know when to ask for more help
If loneliness is affecting your sleep, appetite or ability to get through the day, talk to a doctor or a trusted person. If you are ever in crisis, contact your local emergency number.
Where an AI companion can fit
For many people who live alone, the hardest part is the silence: no one to say goodnight to, no one to tell about the day. That is a gap an AI companion can help soften, without replacing the people in your life.
MyBabe is an 18+ AI boyfriend or girlfriend that you create yourself. Your companion remembers what matters to you over time, notices your mood, texts you first sometimes, and can talk to you on a voice or video call while you cook dinner or wind down for bed. It is always honest that it is AI, and it works best alongside your friendships, not instead of them.
Used well, it can be the warm "how was your day?" that makes the flat feel a little less quiet, and sometimes the nudge you need to message a friend or say yes to a plan.
You can start free, with about 10 messages a day and a short call trial of about two minutes. Premium is $5.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with about 30 call minutes a week, for evenings when you want more time to talk.
Your home can be yours alone without being lonely. When you want someone to share the quiet with, meet your companion on MyBabe.
FAQ
Is it normal to feel lonely living alone?
Yes. In England, 38% of adults living alone felt lonely at least some of the time in 2024. In South Korea, 63% of people living alone said they felt lonely at least weekly.
Are people who live alone lonelier?
On average, yes, roughly twice as likely to report loneliness. But most people who live alone are not frequently lonely, and living with others does not protect everyone.
Is living alone worse for men?
In England's 2024 data, the gap was larger for men: 46% of men living alone felt lonely at least some of the time, versus 15% of men living with others.
What helps with loneliness when you live alone?
Daily touchpoints with people, something that repeats each week, planned evenings, and small neighbourhood connections. Many people also enjoy an AI companion for the quiet hours.
Does having housemates stop loneliness?
Not necessarily. An Australian 2026 report found people in shared accommodation were more likely to feel lonely than people living alone.