Where does happiness come from in later life?
34%
34% of Americans over 65 name friendships and personal relationships as their greatest source of happiness.
n = 6,442 US adults aged 65+ · Fielded 2026 · Cherry Data Signals
Breakdown
Friendships and relationships34%
Health18%
A romantic partner15%
Career14%
Home11%
0%50%100%
Single-choice question.
What it means
Friendship outranks health, romance and career. The finding sits awkwardly beside the 58% who say they are content with the relationships they built.
Methodology
- Sample
- 6,442
- Population
- US adults aged 65+
- Country
- United States
- Fielded
- 2026
- Research by
- Cherry Data Signals
- Study
- When Americans are most satisfied with life
Cite this statistic
Cherry Data Signals (2026). "Where does happiness come from in later life?" Survey of 6,442 US adults aged 65+, United States. https://cherrysignals.com/statistics/where-does-happiness-come-from-in-later-life
Free to reproduce with attribution to Cherry Data Signals and a link to this page.
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