Survey Shows Missouri & Illinois Among Most Lonely States in US

How often do you feel lonely? If you live in Missouri or Illinois, the chances of loneliness increase greatly according to a very recent survey.

It appears that the US Census just did a comprehensive survey of at 60,000 Americans asking questions about loneliness. Axios just shared the results of what they discovered and the situation in Missouri and Illinois is not good.

• 40.9% of Illinoisans feel lonely often
• 40.1% of Missourians feel lonely often

For reference, the survey of nearly 60,000 Americans was taken between July 23, 2024 and August 19, 2024. So the numbers you're looking at are very recent.

One interesting takeaway from this survey is Missouri and Illinois' neighbor Iowa is among the least lonely states in America. Go figure.

You might recall that the federal government declared there was an "epidemic of loneliness" late last year. The questions are what causes it and what can we do about it?

I have to wonder if everyone's dependence on devices for communication is one of the key problems. There's little necessity to go be social in person when you can just follow and comment on social media and that's truly a very disconnected way to live.

I will confess my own hypocrisy as I prefer alone time, but that alone time is with my wife and children and not completely isolated like some people are.

Another concern is the approach of the cold weather months where weather will sometimes mandate not attending gatherings or places where other people will be. I'm certainly not one to talk, but if you value your friends, it might be a good idea to reach out to them if you haven't heard from them recently to make sure they're alright. That's what friends are for, right?