16% of Americans spend NO TIME with their friends: Gallup poll

A poll has found that a growing number of Americans report spending no time with friends in a typical week, double that found in 2004. 

The Gallup poll found that 16 percent of Americans overall report spending no time with friends in a typical week. The poll noted that since 2004, younger adults tend to keep up with their friends, while older adults are falling behind.

The poll looked at data from 2004 and 2025, the data for the latter date being the average of two questions: "In a typical week, how much time (estimated in hours) do you spend with friends," and "In a typical week, how much time (estimated in hours) do you spend with friends in person." 

For Americans ages 18 to 34, that time spent with friends has fallen only slightly, from 11.4 mean hours spent with friends to 11.2. Among adults ages 35 to 54, that time has fallen from 7.5 mean hours to 6.5. For Americans ages 55 and older, that time has fallen from 8.8 mean hours to 6.3. 

A 2023 poll from the Pew Research Center found that 61 percent of US adults say having close friends is extremely or very important to living a fulfilling life. While the majority of respondents reported having at least one close friend, the poll found that eight percent of respondents said they have no close friends.

In a 2023 Surgeon General’s advisory titled "Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation," then-Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said that loneliness "is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity." 

The advisory laid out "six pillars to advance social connection," including strengthening "social infrastructure in local communities," mobilizing the health sector, and building a "culture of connection."