Dinner and a show — for one. More Americans are doing things solo.
With searches for dining alone peaking and a fifth of Broadway theater tickets now being bought by single visitors, the solo leisure market appears to be booming.
For some, spending a large part of your free time alone might have previously conjured up the image of a diary-writing singleton, singing “All By Myself” with a bottle of wine and a solitary glass.
However, a growing number of people are embracing their independence by doing more things unaccompanied — even activities stereotypically considered to be mainly for couples and groups.
Single out
New audience data from the Broadway League found that nearly 20% of Broadway theater tickets in the 2024-25 season were bought by solo attendees, double the rate seen only a few years ago, NPR reported Wednesday. The Great White Way is already capitalizing on the surge, too, with ATG Entertainment last month launching “Solo Seats” events designed especially for single-party theatergoers.
While going to the cinema alone has traditionally been more common (and often argued for), drama buffs appear to be questioning why, despite their parallels, seeing a play alone has been viewed as less socially acceptable. Meanwhile, the party-of-one trend is also being observed across the travel and dining sectors.
According to Google Trends data, search volumes for “restaurant for one” peaked in the US in January, reaching the highest level seen since 2004. Other search terms related to solo activities also spiked at the beginning of this year, including “vacation for one,” though most queries seem to drop off in the summer months and during the festive period.
Beyond interest online, the shift is already impacting industries. Per Forbes, the US solo travel market was valued at $95 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach over $190 billion by 2030. Along with sit-down meals, eating fast food alone has also surged: a recent report from Yum! Brands, owner of Taco Bell and KFC, found that solo dining orders have risen 52% since 2021, now accounting for nearly half of all quick-service restaurant visits.
With more Americans living alone than ever before, it was perhaps only a matter of time until doing leisure activities solo became more common... particularly since US adults are now spending more than an extra hour per day alone on average than they were in 2010, which is enough time to grab a bite, book a flight, or watch most of “Bridget Jones’s Diary.”
