More people live alone in Atlanta than almost any other U.S. city

Living alone is more common than ever for Americans, and the trend is only going up. According to a recent Chamber of Commerce report, Atlanta is now fourth in the entire country for this living arrangement.

Within the past 10 years, the number of people living alone has increased by almost 5 million. Nearly half of those single-person households manifested during the pandemic. Compared to prepandemic (2019) rates, 2.4 million more people are living alone today. Now, nationwide, 37,161,100 people are living alone — 28.6% of all households.

“As younger Americans hold off on major life milestones, such as purchasing a home, marriage, and parenthood, it’s probably not surprising that the trend of living alone has been on the rise,” Chamber of Commerce reported. “Year-over-year, the number of Americans living alone has increased by 1.1 million, according to the Census Bureau.”

More people are living by themselves in Washington, D.C. than any other major U.S. city, followed by Birmingham, Alabama; St. Louis, Missouri; and, finally, Atlanta. Nearly half of all households in the Peach State’s capital city are home to just one person.

“According to the Census Bureau, there are 110,979 one-person households within the city, which represents 44.5% of all households,” the company reported. “Atlanta ranks 10th for males living alone (24%) and 3rd for females living alone (29.3%). Overall, the number of people living alone in Atlanta has increased 7% year-over-year.”

To determine the “most alone” cities for 2024, Chamber of Commerce analyzed more than 170 spaces with a population of 150,000 or more via data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

“Our analysis looked at the number of one-person households in each city as well as the number of males and females living in one-person households,” the company reported. “To determine the average year-over-year increase, we analyzed 2021-2022 one-person household data. Data from the American Community Survey was not available for 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Data for Macon, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; Columbus, Georgia; Spokane Valley, Washington; and Rancho, California was not available from 2022, so these cities were omitted from the analysis.”

Chamber of Commerce is a digital resource for small-business owners, according to the company’s website. The company researches products, writes reviews and creates guides on topics ranging from marketing to financing.