Short version: Men have no close friends at record rates today — only 27% have six or more close friends, down from 55% in 1990, and 15% have none at all. If you want a real human conversation about it today, call 877-638-1122 — free, no script, no upsell.
I’m Sergio. I run How To Beat Loneliness — a free phone line for people who just need to talk. I keep seeing the same stat turn up in the research I read for this project, so I wanted to lay it out plainly instead of burying it in a longer post. If you want to skip the article and just talk: 877-638-1122.
Men Have No Close Friends: What Changed Since 1990
27%. That’s the share of American men today who say they have six or more close friends. In 1990, it was 55%. In one generation, the number of men with a real circle of friends has roughly cut in half. The data comes from the Survey Center on American Life’s American Perspectives Survey, which has tracked friendship since the early 1990s.
Women’s numbers moved too — from 41% to 24% — but men’s circles shrank faster and from a higher starting point, which is part of why researchers now call this specifically a male friendship problem, not just a general one.
15%: Men With No Close Friends At All
15% of men now say they have zero close friends — not one person they’d call if something went wrong. In 1990, that number was 3%. A fivefold increase in a generation isn’t a blip; it’s a trend line worth taking seriously, especially for the men themselves, who are least likely to say anything about it out loud.
8%: It’s Not Just Men
8% of all U.S. adults — not only men — told Pew Research Center in 2023 that they don’t have a single close friend. Men still report the sharpest decline and the starkest before-and-after, but this isn’t a problem that stays on one side of the room.
22%: How Many Young Men Turn to a Friend First
22% of young men now say a friend is the first person they’d turn to with a problem, down from 45% in 1990. Today, 36% say they’d call a parent first instead. Parents are a fine place to start — but a friendship that can’t carry a hard conversation isn’t doing the job a friendship is supposed to do.
| Measure | Men, 1990 | Men, today | Women, 1990 | Women, today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Have 6+ close friends | 55% | 27% | 41% | 24% |
| Have no close friends | 3% | 15% | — | 10% |
| Turn to a friend first with a problem | 45% | 22% | — | — |
Why It’s Happening
Researchers point to the same handful of causes over and over: the workplace friendships that used to form over decades at one employer now end with the next layoff or remote-work shift; the “third places” — bowling leagues, union halls, churches, VFW posts — where men used to make friends without trying have thinned out; and marriage and parenthood, which once pulled men into a partner’s social circle, now arrive later or not at all. None of these causes is anyone’s personal failure. They’re structural, which is also why the fix usually has to be deliberate instead of automatic.
What Actually Helps
Rebuilding a friendship takes repetition, not intensity — the same person, the same activity, on a schedule, for months. A standing Tuesday pickup game does more than one good conversation. If you’re a man reading this and recognizing yourself in these numbers, we wrote more about why this hits men specifically in our piece on men and the 2025 AARP loneliness data.
And if you don’t have anyone to call today — that’s exactly what our free line is for. You can also start with our guide to finding someone to talk to when you’re lonely for other free options.
— Sergio, How To Beat Loneliness
Sources
Why Men’s Social Circles Are Shrinking — Survey Center on American Life, American Perspectives Survey, 2021
8% of US adults say they have no close friends — Pew Research Center survey, reported 2023