There has been a lot of talk around the "loneliness epidemic" that was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic — it's clear that there is a problem. More people are disconnected from each other than ever before, but we're now understanding that the lonely are not spread evenly across the nation.

Overflow Data took the 2024 Household Pulse Survey results from the Census Bureau, and visualized that data on this lovely map. 13.3 percent of US adults report being "always" or "usually" lonely, but some folks are way worse off.

Key Findings:

• Nearly a fifth of Louisiana residents (19.7 percent) are exceptionally lonely. Neighboring state Mississippi is close behind with 18 percent ranked as "always" or "usually" lonely. Can somebody help these people?

• Rhode Island is the least-lonley state with only 8.7 percent of residents reporting the strongest loneliness. Hawaii and Idaho are not far off the mark though. They come in at 10.4 percent and 10.9 percent, respectively.

• The Southeast and Great Plains are overrepresented in the loneliness department, but the lines aren't crystal clear here. There's a 4.3 percent gap between adult loneliness in South Carolina and North Carolina while the gap between Wyoming and Idaho is 4.6 percent.

Via Overflow Data.