Dating in D.C. has become so notorious that it has its own trending hashtag—#dcdating— and now there might be some insight as to why: Washington, D.C., has been named the loneliest city in the United States.
The Chamber of Commerce analyzed Census Bureau data of more than 170 cities with populations of 150,000 or more to determine the number of overall single-person households and the number of male and female single-person households.
According to the analysis, of the 319,565 D.C. households, 48.2% or 154,140 D.C. residents are living alone—the most of any U.S. city. It was followed by St. Louis, Mo., in second place at 47.5% , and nearby Alexandria, Va. in third place at 46.5%.
When the census data was broken down further, it found that 21.5% of males in D.C. live alone, while 26.7% of females in D.C. live alone. This ranks D.C. as the seventh city in the U.S. for men who live alone and second for women who live alone.
Though it found that there was a sharp increase in people living alone amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it isn’t soley responsible, as the data indicates the number of D.C. residents living alone has “increased by 5.9% year-over-year since 2016.”
However, the data doesn’t reflect or include relationship status, age, or other pertinent details.
So don’t give up hope, Washingtonians! Love might still be out there (and they might even have their own place)!