Amid loneliness ‘epidemic’ in US, one group maintains strong community, poll finds (2025)

As Americans report feeling more and more socially isolated, a new study finds that one group maintains a strong sense of community belonging. But that group has been dwindling, according to researchers.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called the social disconnection an “epidemic of loneliness” and equated its impact on lifespan to “smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day,” according to a 2023 report.

Recently, a Harvard Youth Poll found that 18% of young adults said they “do not feel a strong sense of belonging anywhere.” Comparatively, 17% of young adults said they felt “deeply connected to at least one community.”

Twenty-six percent said they felt “somewhat connected,” per the poll.

Religious Americans — including evangelical Christians, Protestants and members of non-Abrahamic faiths — reported much higher levels of community contentedness, researchers said.

The poll, published April 25 in the Harvard Political Review, found that 62% of young adults who find religion “very important” felt a sense of community, while 36% of those who are not religious felt the same, according to the poll.

The survey of 2,096 Americans between 18 and 29 years old was conducted between March 14-25, researchers said.

“Americans who belong to a church or place of worship generally have more people they can count on for help and support than the religiously unaffiliated have,” researchers from the Survey Center on American Life said in a 2024 study.

But according to a 2024 Gallup poll, most faith groups in the U.S. have been seeing a drop in regular religious service attendance.

Thirty percent of Americans said they went to religious services every week or almost every week in 2024, down 8 percentage points from a decade ago, according to the poll, which cited the increase in Americans who aren’t religious as the reason.

This decline has appeared to stabilize in 2025, according to a Pew Research Center survey, but still remains in the low 30s.

Other findings

The Harvard survey also identified where people live and education levels as indicators of loneliness.

About half of people who live in cities and suburbs said they feel connected to a community, according to the poll. Thirty-nine percent of people living in rural areas and 32% of people living in small towns said the same.

Twelve percent of people who have not attended college said they felt deeply connected to a community, while 22% of people with college degrees agreed, the poll found.

People with college degrees are more likely to live in areas with public spaces, which helps with feeling more connected, researchers said. Those who are college educated are also more likely to participate in a religious organization, per the poll.