‘Single Living’ on the rise in Alexandria, particularly among women

It’s becoming increasingly common in Alexandria to live alone.

A new study from the investment firm SmartAsset examined census data from 2016 to 2021 and found, in a study of 342 U.S. cities, Alexandria has the second most growth in people living alone. The number one spot — discrepancy about calling it a city aside — goes to neighboring Arlington.

There was a nearly 3x increase in people living alone with 46.5% of households in Alexandria consisting of one person.

According to SmartAsset, the largest proportional increase was for single women living alone.

“Single-woman households are most prominent in Richmond, VA (28.00%); Washington, D.C. (26.74%); and Alexandria, VA (26.23%),” the report said. “These areas also saw the largest increases in the proportion of single women living alone over five years, with greater than 15% of households added to this cohort.”

Efficiencies — apartments intended for single occupants — make up a large part of many new developments. A study of apartment sizes in the 100 largest U.S. cities found that while 1-bedroom apartments and studio apartments made up only 50% of the apartments in developments back in 2013, in 2022, they made up 57%.

The end of the report, 2021, was in the second year of the Covid pandemic, which may have impacted some of those figures.

Via Naomi Hébert/Unsplash