Statistic
3% to 15%
The share of US men with no close friends rose from 3% to 15%
The share of US men reporting no close friends rose from 3% in 1990 to 15% in 2021 — a roughly five-fold rise — though headline loneliness measures still show men and women at broadly equal levels.
The number
The share of US men reporting no close friends rose from 3% in 1990 to 15% in 2021 — a roughly five-fold rise — according to the American Institute for Boys and Men's review of US datasets including the 2021 American Perspectives Survey (over the same period, the figure for women went from 2% to 10%). [1]
the loneliness epidemic is not a blanket crisis for men in particular
What it does and doesn't establish
Male friendship networks really have thinned faster than women's over three decades — that specific male deficit is well documented. What the number does not establish is a distinctly male loneliness epidemic: on headline measures US men and women report loneliness at broadly equal levels, and the same AIBM review concluded the crisis is not male-specific. Full context: Is there a male loneliness epidemic?
Sources
1 source · all archived at publication
- [1]Male loneliness and isolation: What the data shows · American Institute for Boys and Men · 2025-08-20 archived ↗
By The Fieldnote Desk · How we verify · Corrections