Sure, most of us have thousands of friends on social media, but how many good friends do people have? Well, it turns out you could probably divide your total number of Facebook friends by 1,000 and get pretty close to the real number as the average American has 4 good friends. Luckily, a few good friends goes a long way with 63% of Americans satisfied with their number of friends.
While friends are great for a lot of things (e.g. brunch, gossip, and...is that it?) fewer than 20% would call a close friend to discuss a very personal matter. And with work being the most common place to make friends (20%), followed by 17% at school, perhaps a return to IRL cubicle and classroom socializing is a win-win for everyone’s friendship count.
However, not everyone is satisfied with their current social circle. Millennials are feeling particularly lonely with 42% wishing they had more friends. This could be because many Millennials are transitioning between major sources of friends. Compared to Gen Z, far fewer of Millennials’ friends are from high school and college (31% vs. 53%).
And while most of Gen X’s friends come from work (29%), only 16% of Millenials have met friends on the job. Perhaps entering the job market during the Great Recession and then suffering through the Great Pandemic could explain a lack of on-the-job friends cuz…you kinda need a job to have cubicle buddies.
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