Stat bank
The numbers behind the FourthSpace studies, each with its source and caveat.
73 stats
| Stat | Value | Year | Geography | Source | Caveat | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study 01The friendship recession: 23 years of time use | ||||||
| Average minutes per day spent with friends | 60.0 (2003) to 26.5 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (TRTFRIEND) (opens in a new tab) | Includes people who saw no friends; friends physically present during diary activities | |
| Average minutes per day with friends ages 15-24 | 155.1 (2003) to 53.6 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15-24 | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (TRTFRIEND) (opens in a new tab) | Small annual samples (440 in 2025); 3-year averages are about 150 to 50 | |
| Average minutes per day spent alone | 284.8 (2003) to 334.0 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (TRTALONE) (opens in a new tab) | Excludes sleep and grooming | |
| Share of people who socialized or communicated on an average day | 40.1% (2003) to 30.4% (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (activity codes 1201-1202) (opens in a new tab) | 2024 estimate 29.9% matches BLS published 30% | |
| Daily minutes on games and computer leisure | 18 (2003) to 37 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (codes 120307-120308) (opens in a new tab) | Excludes TV | |
| Adults who spend an evening with a neighbor at least monthly | 44.0% (1974) to 26.9% (2024) | 1974-2024 | U.S. adults | FourthSpace analysis of General Social Survey (SOCOMMUN; weight WTSSPS) (opens in a new tab) | 2021+ web/mixed mode may shift answers | |
| Adults who spend an evening at a bar at least monthly | 18.9% (1974) to 12.8% (2024) | 1974-2024 | U.S. adults | FourthSpace analysis of General Social Survey (SOCBAR) (opens in a new tab) | 2021+ web/mixed mode | |
| U.S. adults who own a smartphone | 35% (2011) to 91% (2024) | 2011-2024 | U.S. adults | Pew Research Center Mobile Fact Sheet (opens in a new tab) | Context series; parallel trend is not evidence of cause | |
| U.S. rank in World Happiness Report | 11th (2011 data) to 23rd (2025 data) | 2011-2025 | U.S. | World Happiness Report 2026 Figure 2.1 data (opens in a new tab) | Rank depends on countries surveyed each year | |
| Study 02Phones, social media and teen mental health: a specification curve | ||||||
| High school students with persistent sadness or hopelessness | 33.3% | 2025 | U.S. high school students | CDC National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2025 (FourthSpace weighted estimate; CDC reports 33%) (opens in a new tab) | Two weeks or more of sadness in the past 12 months; self-reported | |
| Persistent sadness among high school girls vs boys | 43.4% vs 23.9% | 2025 | U.S. high school students | CDC National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Self-reported | |
| High school students who use social media about hourly or more | 35.8% (2025) vs 36.9% (2023) | 2023-2025 | U.S. high school students | CDC National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2023 and 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Frequency of use; not hours or content | |
| High school students who use social media several times a day or more | 80.2% (2025) vs 77.0% (2023) | 2023-2025 | U.S. high school students | CDC National Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2023 and 2025; CDC MMWR Young et al. 2024 for 2023 (opens in a new tab) | Frequency of use | |
| Share of 540 models where heavy social media users report worse mental health | 90% (485 of 540); 56% with 95% interval above zero | 2023-2025 | U.S. high school students | FourthSpace specification curve on CDC YRBS 2023 and 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Cross-sectional association; does not show cause | |
| Median adjusted gap in poor mental health outcomes for heavy vs lighter social media users | 5.0 percentage points | 2023-2025 | U.S. high school students | FourthSpace specification curve on CDC YRBS 2023 and 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Association; varies by definition and controls | |
| Extra persistent sadness among girls who use social media more than once an hour | +11.2 points (95% CI 7.4 to 14.9) | 2025 | U.S. high school girls | FourthSpace analysis of CDC YRBS 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Adjusted for grade and race/ethnicity; association only | |
| Extra persistent sadness among students who do not feel close to people at school | +17.3 points (95% CI 14.2 to 20.4) | 2025 | U.S. high school students | FourthSpace analysis of CDC YRBS 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Adjusted for sex grade race/ethnicity; association only | |
| Extra persistent sadness among students bullied electronically | +31.3 points (95% CI 27.9 to 34.6) | 2025 | U.S. high school students | FourthSpace analysis of CDC YRBS 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Adjusted for sex grade race/ethnicity; association only | |
| Students who do not feel close to people at school | 44.7% (2023) to 36.8% (2025) | 2023-2025 | U.S. high school students | FourthSpace analysis of CDC YRBS 2023 and 2025 microdata (opens in a new tab) | Not sure/disagree/strongly disagree; item absent from CDC's 2025 summary report | |
| Part of the 2023-2025 drop in teen sadness explained by changes in social media frequency | +0.2 of -7.1 points | 2023-2025 | U.S. high school students | FourthSpace shift-share analysis of CDC YRBS 2023 and 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Descriptive decomposition; not causal | |
| U.S. teens online almost constantly | 40% | 2025 | U.S. teens 13-17 | Pew Research Center Teens & Technology survey (Sep 25-Oct 9 2025; N=1458) (opens in a new tab) | Down from 46% in 2022-2024; 24% in 2014-15 with slightly different wording | |
| U.S. teens who use an AI chatbot | 64% | 2025 | U.S. teens 13-17 | Pew Research Center Teens & Technology survey (Sep 25-Oct 9 2025; N=1458) (opens in a new tab) | Includes any use | |
| Young people using social media under one hour a day report the highest wellbeing | Higher than non-users (no single figure) | 2026 | International (WHR 2026 analysis of young people) | World Happiness Report 2026 via University of Oxford (opens in a new tab) | Cross-national survey association | |
| Study 03What connection is worth: loneliness, health and Sacramento | ||||||
| Adults who feel lonely always usually or sometimes | 32.1% | 2023 | Adults in 35 U.S. states that asked the module | FourthSpace weighted estimate from CDC BRFSS 2023 (SDLONELY) (opens in a new tab) | Optional module; not all states | |
| Adults who feel lonely always or usually | 7.4% | 2023 | Adults in 35 U.S. states | FourthSpace weighted estimate from CDC BRFSS 2023 (opens in a new tab) | Stricter definition than CDC PLACES | |
| Adults who lack the social and emotional support they need at least sometimes | 23.1% | 2023 | Adults in 35 U.S. states | FourthSpace weighted estimate from CDC BRFSS 2023 (EMTSUPRT) (opens in a new tab) | Optional module | |
| California adults who feel lonely at least sometimes | 33.5% | 2023 | California adults | FourthSpace weighted estimate from CDC BRFSS 2023 (opens in a new tab) | Direct survey estimate | |
| Frequent mental distress among always-lonely vs never-lonely adults | 54% vs 6% | 2023-2024 | Adults in module states | FourthSpace analysis of CDC BRFSS 2023-2024 (opens in a new tab) | Association only | |
| Adjusted gap in frequent mental distress for lonely vs not lonely adults | +21.2 points (95% CI 20.5 to 21.9) | 2023-2024 | Adults in module states | FourthSpace analysis of CDC BRFSS 2023-2024 (opens in a new tab) | Adjusted for demographics and income; association only | |
| Sacramento County adults who feel lonely (age-adjusted) | 39.5% (95% CI 35.3 to 44.2) | 2023 | Sacramento County CA | CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS 2023 model-based) (opens in a new tab) | Model-based small-area estimate | |
| Sacramento County loneliness percentile among U.S. counties with an estimate | Higher than 95.5% of 2300 counties; 2nd of 58 CA counties | 2023 | U.S. counties | FourthSpace ranking of CDC PLACES 2025 county estimates (opens in a new tab) | Model-based; counties in module states only | |
| Estimated Sacramento County adults who feel lonely at least sometimes | about 477,000 (range 426,000 to 532,000) | 2023 | Sacramento County CA | FourthSpace estimate: CDC PLACES 2025 crude prevalence 38.9% x 1226535 adults (opens in a new tab) | Estimate built from model-based prevalence | |
| Sacramento County adults lacking social and emotional support (age-adjusted) | 28.9% | 2023 | Sacramento County CA | CDC PLACES 2025 release (opens in a new tab) | Model-based; higher than 89.7% of counties | |
| Higher odds of survival with stronger social relationships | 50% (OR 1.50; 95% CI 1.42 to 1.59) | 2010 | 148 studies; 308849 people | Holt-Lunstad Smith and Layton PLOS Medicine 2010 (opens in a new tab) | Observational meta-analysis | |
| Higher risk of death with social isolation; with loneliness | HR 1.32; HR 1.14 | 2023 | 90 studies; 2.2 million people | Wang et al. Nature Human Behaviour 2023 (opens in a new tab) | Observational meta-analysis | |
| Deaths per year linked to loneliness worldwide | about 871000 | 2025 | Global | WHO Commission on Social Connection (opens in a new tab) | Modeled estimate | |
| People worldwide affected by loneliness | 1 in 6 | 2025 | Global | WHO Commission on Social Connection (opens in a new tab) | Survey-based global estimate | |
| Study 04Third place supply: what we have, what we lost, where we spend our time | ||||||
| Change in civic and social organizations per 10000 residents | -40% (1.16 to 0.70) | 1998-2023 | United States | FourthSpace analysis of Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 813410) (opens in a new tab) | Establishments with paid employees only | |
| Change in coffee shops and snack bars per 10000 residents | +91% (1.31 to 2.50) | 1998-2023 | United States | FourthSpace analysis of Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 722213/722515) (opens in a new tab) | NAICS bridge across 2012 revision | |
| Change in bars and taverns per 10000 residents | -38% U.S.; -44% Sacramento County | 1998-2023 | United States; Sacramento County | FourthSpace analysis of Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 722410) (opens in a new tab) | Establishments with paid employees | |
| Change in bookstores per 10000 residents | -69% U.S.; -61% Sacramento County | 1998-2023 | United States; Sacramento County | FourthSpace analysis of Census County Business Patterns (NAICS 451211) (opens in a new tab) | Establishments with paid employees | |
| Coffee shops and snack bars in Sacramento County | 206 (1998) to 501 (2023) | 1998-2023 | Sacramento County CA | Census County Business Patterns (opens in a new tab) | Establishments with paid employees | |
| Waking minutes per day at home | 437 (2003) to 511 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (TEWHERE=1) (opens in a new tab) | Includes working from home | |
| Minutes per day at third places | 83 (2003) to 67 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (TEWHERE) (opens in a new tab) | Third places = others' homes; restaurants/bars; worship; library; gym; outdoors | |
| Minutes per day at someone else's home | 44.2 (2003) to 29.2 (2025) | 2003-2025 | U.S., ages 15+ | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (TEWHERE=3) (opens in a new tab) | Includes people who did not visit | |
| U.S. public library visits per resident | 5.3 (FY2009 peak); 3.9 (FY2019); 2.6 (FY2024) | 1998-2024 | United States (50 states and DC) | FourthSpace analysis of IMLS Public Libraries Survey (opens in a new tab) | Visits per capita of legal service area | |
| U.S. public library visits FY2024 as share of FY2019 | 69% | 2019-2024 | United States (50 states and DC) | FourthSpace analysis of IMLS Public Libraries Survey (opens in a new tab) | Program attendance recovered to 84% | |
| Sacramento Public Library visits FY2024 as share of FY2019 | 54% (2.0M vs 3.7M) | 2019-2024 | Sacramento Public Library service area | IMLS Public Libraries Survey (opens in a new tab) | Counting methods may change over time | |
| Study 05Civic life and loneliness: counties and Sacramento ZIPs | ||||||
| Loneliness in lowest vs highest volunteering county bins | 38.4% vs 33.3% | 2018-2023 | U.S. counties in loneliness-module states | FourthSpace analysis of Social Capital Atlas and CDC PLACES 2025 (opens in a new tab) | Raw comparison before controls; model-based loneliness | |
| Change in county loneliness per 1 SD more volunteering after controls | -0.15 points (95% CI -0.24 to -0.05) | 2018-2023 | 2245 U.S. counties | FourthSpace OLS with state fixed effects (opens in a new tab) | Association between places | |
| Change in county loneliness per 1 SD more economic connectedness after controls | -0.56 points (95% CI -0.75 to -0.38) | 2018-2023 | 2201 U.S. counties | FourthSpace OLS with state fixed effects (opens in a new tab) | Association between places | |
| Sacramento County volunteering rate percentile | 32nd of all counties; 68th of 44 counties with 1M+ people | 2018-2019 | Sacramento County CA | Social Capital Atlas (Chetty et al. 2022) (opens in a new tab) | Facebook users 25-44 | |
| Sacramento County friend network clustering percentile | 3rd of all counties; 55th of 44 counties with 1M+ people | 2018-2019 | Sacramento County CA | Social Capital Atlas (Chetty et al. 2022) (opens in a new tab) | Low clustering is typical of large metros | |
| Civic and social organizations with paid staff in Sacramento County | 53 | 2022 | Sacramento County CA | Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 813410) (opens in a new tab) | Excludes volunteer-only groups | |
| Coffee shops and snack bars in Sacramento County | 454 | 2022 | Sacramento County CA | Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2022 (NAICS 722515) (opens in a new tab) | ZBP total differs slightly from CBP county total | |
| Correlation between volunteering and loneliness across Sacramento ZIPs | -0.70 | 2018-2023 | 49 Sacramento County ZIPs | FourthSpace analysis of Social Capital Atlas and CDC PLACES 2025 ZCTA (opens in a new tab) | Volunteering also tracks income (r=0.82 with EC) | |
| Study 06Sacramento opportunity map: loneliness, places to gather, and who to call first | ||||||
| Estimated adults who feel lonely at least sometimes (tract sum) | about 475,000 | 2023 | Sacramento County CA (362 tracts) | FourthSpace estimate from CDC PLACES 2025 tract data and ACS 2020-2024 (opens in a new tab) | Built from model-based tract prevalence | |
| Tracts forming loneliness hot spots | 74 tracts; est. 111000 lonely adults | 2023 | Sacramento County CA | FourthSpace local Moran's I on CDC PLACES 2025 tracts (opens in a new tab) | Model smoothing inflates clustering | |
| Tracts pairing high loneliness with low 10-minute walk access to an indoor gathering place | 36 tracts; est. 52000 lonely adults | 2023-2026 | Sacramento County CA | FourthSpace analysis of CDC PLACES 2025; OpenStreetMap (Nov 2026); TIGER 2024 roads (opens in a new tab) | OSM undercounts venues; network approximated from TIGER | |
| Tracts with no mapped indoor gathering place | 164 of 362 | 2026 | Sacramento County CA | FourthSpace analysis of OpenStreetMap via Overpass (Nov 14 2026) (opens in a new tab) | OSM is incomplete | |
| Population-weighted share of intersections within an 800 m walk of an indoor gathering place | 29.5% | 2026 | Sacramento County CA | FourthSpace network analysis of OpenStreetMap and Census TIGER 2024 roads (opens in a new tab) | Counts intersections not homes | |
| Correlation of tract loneliness with median age; with median income; with living alone | -0.73; -0.61; -0.20 | 2020-2024 | Sacramento County tracts | FourthSpace analysis of CDC PLACES 2025 and ACS 2020-2024 (opens in a new tab) | PLACES is model-based on demographics | |
| Named venues on the FourthSpace outreach list | 765 (544 likely independents) | 2026 | Sacramento County CA | OpenStreetMap via Overpass (Nov 14 2026) (opens in a new tab) | Needs manual verification | |
| Study 07The second place went quiet: remote work and daily company | ||||||
| Minutes with anyone outside the household on home vs workplace workdays | 57 vs 423 | 2021-2025 | U.S. employed people on days with 4+ hours of work | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (who file) (opens in a new tab) | People physically present; video calls not counted | |
| Hours alone on home vs workplace workdays | 10.7 vs 5.8 | 2021-2025 | U.S. employed people | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (opens in a new tab) | Includes time working alone | |
| Minutes with friends on home vs workplace workdays | 12 vs 11 | 2021-2025 | U.S. employed people | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (opens in a new tab) | Friends physically present | |
| Adjusted difference on home workdays: minutes with people outside household; minutes alone | -348 (95% CI -356 to -341); +273 (263 to 283) | 2010-2025 excl. 2020 | U.S. employed people | FourthSpace weighted regression on ATUS (year age work minutes) (opens in a new tab) | Does not control for occupation | |
| Share of workdays worked at home | 5-7% (2010-2019); 24% (2021); 20% (2025) | 2010-2025 | U.S. | FourthSpace analysis of BLS American Time Use Survey (opens in a new tab) | 90%+ of work minutes at home | |
| Share of paid full workdays worked from home | 27% | Oct 2026 | U.S. | Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (Barrero Bloom Davis) (opens in a new tab) | Different definition from ATUS | |
| Sacramento County workers who usually work from home | 112,103 (14.7%) in 2025 vs 52,374 (7.2%) in 2019 | 2019-2025 | Sacramento County CA | U.S. Census Bureau ACS 1-year table B08301 (opens in a new tab) | Hybrid workers who commuted most days count as commuters | |
| Workers who usually work from home: U.S.; California | 12.9%; 13.4% | 2025 | U.S.; California | U.S. Census Bureau ACS 1-year table B08301 (opens in a new tab) | Survey estimate with margin of error | |
| State workers in Sacramento County | just under 90000 | 2026 | Sacramento County CA | KPBS/CapRadio reporting (Feb 2026) (opens in a new tab) | News report figure | |
| Downtown Sacramento foot traffic change after the July 2026 return-to-office order | +12% (July 1-11 2026 vs 2025) | 2026 | Downtown Sacramento | Downtown Sacramento Partnership via The Abridged (opens in a new tab) | Short window; partnership data not analyzed here | |
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