Relationship Statistics (2026)

30% of U.S. adults are single — defined as not married, not living with a partner, and not in a committed romantic relationship.

This nationally representative figure varies sharply by age: 47% of adults under 30 are single, compared with 21% of those ages 30-49 and 30% of those 50 and older, forming a U-shaped pattern across the adult lifespan.

Among single Americans, 57% are not currently looking for a relationship or casual dates, while 42% are looking for some kind of romance.

Of those actively looking, the survey found roughly 22% are open to either a committed relationship or casual dating, 13% want only a committed relationship, and 7% want only casual dating — meaning 'looking to date' isn't a single, uniform category.

1 in 10 partnered U.S. adults met their current significant other through a dating site or app — rising to 1 in 5 among partnered adults under 30.

This is based on a survey of 6,034 U.S. adults conducted in mid-2022. The sharp age gradient shows online dating has become disproportionately the entry point for younger couples' relationships compared with older ones.

42% of U.S. adults say dating apps have made finding a long-term partner easier, while 22% say they've made it harder.

Views split further by gender and prior experience: people who have used dating apps themselves, and those currently in a relationship that started online, tend to rate the format more positively than the general population.

Long-distance dating couples show greater relational stability than geographically close couples — but only as long as they remain separated.

Researchers tracked couples through the transition from long-distance to living near each other and found the stability advantage long-distance couples showed while apart didn't carry over automatically once they closed the distance.

About half of long-distance couples end their relationship while still geographically separated; among those who do reunite, roughly one-third break up within 3 months of closing the distance.

Reunion introduces its own strain: researchers linked it to a loss of individual autonomy, increased exposure to previously unknown (and sometimes unwelcome) information about a partner, new time-management conflicts, and heightened jealousy — all factors absent while the relationship existed primarily through scheduled contact.

36% of ever-married U.S. adults describe their marriage as 'very happy,' a figure that has held roughly steady since this survey began tracking it in 1972.

This stability contrasts with more dramatic shifts elsewhere in relationship statistics (falling marriage rates, later marriage ages), suggesting the experience of those who do marry has not shifted as much as the decision of whether or when to marry at all.

Couples who responded to their partner's small bids for connection 86% of the time were still married 6 years later; couples who later divorced had turned toward those bids only 33% of the time.

A 'bid' is any small attempt to get a partner's attention or support. This finding is one of the most frequently cited in relationship-satisfaction research because the gap between the two groups (86% vs. 33%) is unusually large for behavioral research of this kind.