1 in 3 Older Americans Say They Feel Lonely, Poll Finds

If you are middle-aged or older, you may often feel lonely and isolated as you deal with the strains of daily life.

Now, a new survey suggests you are far from alone: More than one-third of middle-aged and senior Americans feel that way.

The good news? That means that loneliness and isolation has mostly returned to pre-pandemic rates among older Americans, the researchers noted.

The bad news? Some older adults still have much higher rates of social isolation than others, particularly those dealing with major physical or mental health problems.

“At the surface, this might seem like great news, that we’re back to where we were before COVID-19 struck,” said lead researcher Dr. Preeti Malani, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“But that baseline was not good, and it was especially bad for some groups of older adults, who continue to have very high rates of loneliness and social isolation,” Malani said in a university news release.

About 33% of adults ages 50 to 80 felt lonely some of the time or often in 2024, about the same rate as in 2018 (34%), according to results from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging.

During the pandemic years, as many as 42% of older adults reported this level of loneliness, the researchers noted.

Meanwhile, 29% of older adults said they felt isolated some or much of the time in 2024, slightly above the 27% reported in 2018, the poll found.

During the early months of the pandemic, 56% of older adults reported that they felt this level of isolation, researchers reported.

Some were hit harder than others: People with mental or physical health problems were twice as likely to report loneliness or social isolation as those in excellent shape physically and mentally.

The highest rates of loneliness in 2024 were among those with fair or poor mental health (75%), fair or poor physical health (53%), and the unemployed and disabled (52%), the poll found.

Likewise, the highest rates of social isolation were among those with fair or poor mental health (77%), fair or poor physical health (52%), and the unemployed and disabled (50%).

“These trends make it clear: clinicians should see loneliness and isolation as a key factor in their patients’ lives, especially those with serious physical or mental health conditions,” said poll director Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren, an associate professor of internal medicine at University of Michigan.

“We should consider screening our patients for these issues and connecting them with resources in their communities, whether that’s a senior center, veterans’ groups, volunteering opportunities or services offered by an Area Agency on Aging or other community organizations,” Kullgren added.

In general, middle-aged adults 50 to 64 were more likely to say they feel lonely or isolated than seniors 65 to 80 were, results show.

What’s more, rates of loneliness or isolation among those 50 to 64 have not dropped back to pre-pandemic rates, researchers noted.

Similarly, people with household incomes below $60,000 and those who live alone were more likely to say they sometimes or often feel lonely or isolated, results show.

The new poll results were published Dec. 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The latest poll took place in February and March 2024, and involved more than 2,600 U.S. adults aged 50 and older, researchers said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about the health effects of social isolation and loneliness.

SOURCE: University of Michigan, news release, Dec. 9, 2024