A new study has revealed a striking friendship gap among young single men in America, with 50% of single New York men aged 18 to 35 saying they do not have any female friends. This equates to a staggering 761,344 men.
The study, conducted by Cherry Data Signals, a low-cost survey platform that helps brands uncover original consumer insights, surveyed 7,014 single men aged 18 to 35. The findings suggest that for many young men, the modern dating crisis may begin long before a first date, a dating-app match, or a rejected message. Instead, it may stem from something more basic: a lack of everyday, platonic friendships with women.
The findings come amid growing concern about male loneliness, dating fatigue, and the rise of online spaces where young men can become increasingly disconnected from real-life relationships with women.
The survey also found that 73% of single men who are not using dating apps say they have simply given up trying to find a romantic partner. That finding suggests that avoiding dating apps is not always a sign that men are confidently meeting people offline. For many, it may point to something more worrying: they have stopped trying altogether.
Why single men say they have no female friends
When asked why they do not currently have any female friends, respondents gave a range of answers.
The most common reason was a simple lack of opportunity. 34% said they rarely meet women naturally in everyday life, especially outside work, school, or dating apps.
A further 22% said their social lives are mostly built around male friendship groups, gaming, or online communities, making it harder for mixed-gender friendships to form naturally.
Another 18% said they find friendships with women complicated, either because the worry about developing feelings, misreading signals, or making the friendship awkward.
Meanwhile, 15% said they are not especially interested in making female friends, and 11% said they lack the confidence to socialize with women unless there is a clear romantic context.
Together, the responses suggest that the absence of female friendships is not always intentional. For some men, it is the result of a shrinking social world. For others, it reflects uncertainty about how to relate to women outside dating.
“In New York, everyone assumes it’s easy to meet people, but it’s actually hard to get past the surface,” said one Queens 32-year-old. “You can talk to a lot of people and still not feel close to anyone. The women I know are mostly dates that didn’t go anywhere, not friends.”
Many single men say dating now feels pointless
The survey also explored whether single men still feel hopeful about finding a partner.
Among single men who are not currently using dating apps, 73% said they have given up trying to find a romantic partner.
When asked why they had stopped trying, 41% said dating feels too difficult or emotionally exhausting, while 29% said they do not believe they are attractive or successful enough to compete in modern dating.
A further 24% said repeated rejection had made them less willing to approach women, and 19% said dating apps had damaged their confidence.
Notably, 31% of single men surveyed said they spend more time socializing online than in person, while 27% said most of their free time is spent gaming, streaming, or in online communities rather than going out socially.
This does not mean those activities are inherently negative. However, the findings suggest that for some young men, online spaces may have become a substitute for the real-world social interactions where friendships, confidence, and romantic opportunities are often built.
The “female friend gap” may be affecting how men understand dating
The survey also asked single men whether they believe having female friends would improve their dating life.
58% believe men with close female friends are probably better at understanding women, while 46% said having female friends would make dating feel less intimidating.
However, 39% admitted they would find it difficult to maintain a close friendship with a woman they were attracted to, and 33% said they have previously mistaken friendliness from a woman for romantic interest.
This points to one of the central tensions in the findings: many men recognize the value of female friendships, but still find them difficult to form or maintain.
In fact, 44% of men with no female friends said they would like to have at least one, suggesting the issue is not always hostility or lack of interest. For many, it may be awkwardness, isolation, or simply not knowing where those friendships would come from.
Dating apps may not be filling the gap
Dating apps were also a major theme in the survey.
Of those who had used dating apps in the past year, 52% said the experience made them feel more discouraged about dating, while 37% said it made them feel more resentful or cynical about relationships.
Only 18% said dating apps had made them feel more optimistic about finding a partner.
Among men who are not currently on dating apps, the mood was even bleaker. As well as the 73% who said they had given up trying to find a romantic partner, 48% said they would not know where to meet women in real life, and 36% said they feel nervous approaching women offline because they do not want to seem creepy or intrusive.
The findings suggest that many young men feel caught between two uncomfortable options: dating apps that damage their confidence, and offline dating that feels socially risky or unfamiliar.
“The results suggest that for many young single men, the issue is not just that dating feels harder. It is that everyday social connection with women may be disappearing too,” says Sara Conway of Cherry Data Signals. “Female friendships can give men perspective, confidence, emotional support, and a healthier understanding of relationships. When those friendships are missing, dating can start to feel even more intimidating, transactional, or out of reach.”
“What stands out is how many men appear to have withdrawn altogether. If nearly three-quarters of single men who are not on dating apps say they have given up trying to find a partner, that points to something deeper than app fatigue. It suggests a growing sense of romantic resignation among young men.”
Methodology
Cherry Data Signals conducted a nationally distributed online survey of 7,014 single men in the United States aged 18 to 35. Respondents were asked about their current friendship circles, whether they have female friends, their experiences with dating apps, their confidence in meeting potential romantic partners, and the extent to which online communities, gaming, social media, or male-only friendship groups shape their social lives.
For the purposes of the survey, respondents were asked to interpret a “female friend” as a woman they are not dating, not related to, and not actively trying to date, but who they would consider part of their social life in a genuine platonic sense. Follow-up questions explored whether respondents had close female friends, female acquaintances, or no female friendships at all, as well as the reasons some men felt those friendships were absent from their lives..
Cherry Data Signals applied standard data-cleaning procedures prior to analysis, including the removal of incomplete submissions, duplicate responses, inconsistent answers, and responses that failed basic quality-control checks. Responses were also reviewed for speeding, straight-lining, and contradictory answer patterns to ensure the final dataset reflected genuine respondent engagement.
Final figures were rounded to the nearest whole number for publication. The findings should be interpreted as indicative survey estimates of attitudes and experiences among single U.S. men aged 18 to 35, rather than exact population measurements.
