The depression rate of US adults has gone up roughly 8 percentage points in the past decade, exceeding 18% for the first time in 2024 and remaining relatively unchanged in 2025, Gallup has discovered.

Gallup reported that an estimated 47.8 million Americans currently have or are being treated for depression, a rate of 18.3%. In 2015, the first time Gallup measured the US depression rate, only 10.5% of adults said they were depressed or were seeking treatment for it.

Gallup also found that 28.5% of adults currently say they have been diagnosed with depression in their lifetime, just under the record high of 29% measured in 2023.

Demographics that saw particularly startling increases included young adults aged 18-29 and adults in lower-income households. Lower-income households’ depression rate went from 22.1% to 35.1% between 2017 and 2025. Young adults’ rate doubled across the same time frame, going from 13% to 26.7%.

“Two factors appear to explain the surge in depression rates among young people: Americans entering young adulthood with higher levels of depression than their counterparts from eight years ago, coupled with increasing rates of depression generally among those who were already adults,” Gallup noted.

Gallup also found a link between loneliness and depression. One-third of respondents who said they were lonely the day before taking the poll also said they were struggling with depression. Thirteen percent said they were not lonely but were experiencing depression.

While today’s loneliness rate (21%) is still below the record highs for loneliness, which were measured at 25% in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2025 levels are higher than the range of 17% and 18% measured in much of 2022 and 2023. Nearly every age group has experienced heightened levels of loneliness. The exception is people aged 65 and older, whose loneliness rate has remained stable.

Gallup hypothesized that a reduced stigma in seeking mental health treatment could be a contributing factor to the increased depression rates but added that “the broader picture suggests a country where structural and psychological stressors are intensifying, especially for those already facing disadvantage.” Gallup also noted that financial struggles, loneliness, and social media use may only be exacerbating the problem.