Arlington has seen the greatest growth in people living alone of 342 U.S. cities.
That’s according to a new study by the website SmartAsset, which examined census data between 2016 and 2021.
Arlington is No. 1 on the list and neighboring Alexandria is No. 2, at a 3.54x and 2.98x increase of people living alone, respectively. In Arlington, about 42% of households only had one resident as of 2021.
“The rate of single people who live alone is rising dramatically in some U.S. cities,” a SmartAsset spokesman wrote. “Our findings show Arlington and Alexandria ranked among the top five cities where households changed the most.”
More from SmartAsset’s findings:
On average, the rate of single people living alone jumped to 28%. Five years prior, that figure was 24%. In Arlington, VA, which had the most drastic increase, the proportion of people living alone jumped from 11% to 41%.
Single people make up nearly half of households in these cities. The largest single populations across men and women are Washington, D.C. (48.23%); St. Louis, MO (47.49%); Alexandria, VA (46.52%); Richmond, VA (46.23%); Cincinnati, OH (46.20%); and Cleveland, OH (46.20%).
In the D.C. area, more than 25% of households are single women. Single-woman households are most prominent in Richmond, VA (28.00%); Washington, D.C. (26.74%); and Alexandria, VA (26.23%). These areas also saw the largest increases in the proportion of single women living alone over five years, with greater than 15% of households added to this cohort. Other areas with large bachelorette populations include St. Louis, MO (25.70%); New Orleans, LA (25.70%) and Cincinnati, OH (24.63%).
It’s perhaps worth pointing out that the end year of the study period, 2021, was in the midst of the pandemic — which might have prompted some to exit roommate situations.
