US: 29% of households are one person living alone, up from 13% in 1960
Their share grew 2.3 times, from 13.1% to 29.5%. The average household shrank from 3.33 to 2.5 people.
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A household describes living arrangements, not a family. Someone living alone may have a partner, children and a rich social life.
One percentage scale relative to 1960: 0% is the starting value, +100% is a doubling, −50% is a halving. Lines show the yearly path; on a short screen, bars show the change to 2025. Equal distances mean equal relative changes. For shares, this is relative change, not percentage points. Gaps are not filled; original values and units are below.
- Living alone % of households
13.101 (1960) → 29.484 (2025)
- Household size people per household
3.33 (1960) → 2.5 (2025)
Published values for the selected period without interpolation. The headline describes an observation, not a causal effect.
CPS ASEC estimates, not individual records. Revised r rows replace older variants of the same year. Same-sex couples enter marriage estimates from 2019. The 2024–2025 change includes a Vintage population update; a long-run trend does not erase that break.
A question for this picture
What changes when more separate homes are needed for the same population?