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More Americans are living alone than ever before

As a viral app sparks debate about solo living in China, new Census Bureau data shows that the share of one-person households in the US is reaching record highs.

Millie Giles

1/14/26 8:35AM

A new app has risen to the top of China’s iPhone App Store charts — one markedly more macabre than the messaging platforms and AI assistants that typically lead the ranking.

On Monday, media outlets reported that the viral app Sile Me (which roughly translates from Mandarin as a very literal “Are You Dead?”) had become the country’s most popular paid Apple App Store download.

Launched in mid-2025 and costing a mere 8 yuan ($1.15) to buy, Sile Me offers just one function: a large button that users can press to confirm that they are, in fact, alive. If they fail to do so for two consecutive days, the app will reach out to an appointed emergency contact.

Sile Me, myself, and I

While the app’s simplicity is reminiscent of some earlier patrons of the App Store, its sudden popularity is putting the spotlight on the growing cohort of solo dwellers in the Eastern nation.

Research suggests that there could be as many as 200 million one-person households in China by 2030 — and while a rapidly aging population explains some of that rise, younger people now also appear to be embracing living alone.

In America, it’s no different. Data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey for 2025 reveals that the number of one-person households in the US is edging close to a record 40 million, with the share of American households made up of just one person hitting an all-time high of 29%.

Number of Americans Living Alone 2025 — Sherwood News

This includes an estimated ~1.3 million extra one-person households in 2025 compared with the prior year, though the Bureau noted that this may be reflective of both demographic changes and methodological updates. Even so, the significant rise over the last decade indicates a broader societal shift that’s been playing out around the globe.

Residin’ solo

As noted by The Economist in November, the share of people living alone has increased in 26 out of 30 rich countries since 2010.

Marriage rates are continuing to plummet in the US, as well as in China and many other developed nations, which has coincided with rising incomes and some heated online discourse about traditional relationships. And, like China, the surge in solo dwellings is also being driven at the older end of the demographic spectrum: America’s population aged 65 and older, statistically the most likely cohort to live alone, is expected to keep booming.

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Ahead of Mother’s Day, Google searches for “same day flower delivery” have ticked up a little earlier this year

If you’ve already made plans for a Mother’s Day gift in advance of this Sunday, congratulations. But if alarm bells are suddenly ringing, consider this a gentle reminder that, like a sizable share of the US population this time of year often does, you can still scrape together some last-minute flowers for the woman who carried you for nine months.

Data from Google Trends reveals that searches for “same day flower delivery” spike in the US in May every year, when Mother’s Day takes place. As we noted last February, the same query also gains traction around Valentine’s Day.

This year, however, it appears that searches for last-minute flowers have remained elevated in the last two months after the usual peak in February — with the search interest this April actually exceeding that seen around Cupid’s Day.

Honestly, we’re not sure why searches are spiking a little early. One explanation might be that Passover and Easter have overlapped at the start of April, and Americans wanted to celebrate with some flowers. Maybe it’s a host of Claude bots that are now running errands for AI-obsessed execs — or perhaps Americans are just impulse-buying some seasonal spring blooms after an unusually warm March, without a particular occasion.