The state of connection

Loneliness & dating in 2026: the numbers

By Matthew Firth, founder of NexSpark · Jul 4, 2026 · 6 min read

We built NexSpark because the people around us were lonely, and the data says it isn't just our corner of the world. Here's an honest, sourced snapshot of where connection actually stands in 2026. Every figure below links to its source; a full list is at the bottom. Journalists and writers are welcome to cite this page.

The loneliness epidemic is real, and official

In 2023 the U.S. Surgeon General took the rare step of issuing a public-health advisory on loneliness, calling it a national epidemic and putting its health toll in stark terms.

The digital paradox: most connected, most alone

This is the part that stops you cold. The generations with the most ways to "connect" report the least connection. We were handed endless feeds and inboxes, and drifted further apart.

Dating apps aren't fixing it

The tools built to bring people together have, for many, become another source of exhaustion. Adoption is wide, but the experience is decidedly mixed.

The adult friendship cliff

Romance isn't the only kind of connection in short supply. Adult friendship has its own quiet crisis, and its own arithmetic. Our sister site covers it in depth in the state of friendship, by the numbers.

It's why we started NexSpark Friends alongside the matchmaking side, the loneliness people described to us wasn't only romantic.

What people actually want

Here's the hopeful counterweight to the doom stats: most people aren't looking to keep swiping. They want something real.

The cost of getting this wrong

Loneliness isn't just a bad mood. The Surgeon General's advisory frames it as a physical-health risk on the order of smoking.

Why we're publishing this

Because naming the problem honestly is the first step to solving it, and because we think the same technology that helped pull people apart can be turned around and used to bring them back together. That belief is the whole reason NexSpark exists. If you're building, writing, or reporting on connection, use these numbers, just link back so others can find the sources too.

Sources

• U.S. Surgeon General, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (Advisory, 2023).
• The Cigna Group / Evernorth Research Institute, Loneliness in America (2024).
• Meta & Gallup, The Global State of Social Connections (2023).
• Pew Research Center, Key findings about online dating in the U.S. (2023).
• Jeffrey A. Hall, How many hours does it take to make a friend? (Journal of Social & Personal Relationships, 2018).
• Match & The Kinsey Institute, Singles in America.
• YouGov, situationship prevalence among 18–34-year-olds (2026).

Figures are rounded and reflect the most recent data available at publication. See each source for full methodology.