More than a quarter (27%) of U.S. adults age 18 to 29 are currently have or are being treated for depression, according to analysis of Gallup polling results released this month. All people in that age cohort are members of Gen Z, a generation that was born from 1997 to 2012.
Results are part of the Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index.
According to Gallup, the percentage of adults in this age range dealing with or being treated for depression is up 11% since 2019. Polling also showed that U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 who evaluate their lives well enough to be considered “thriving” in its Life Evaluation Index is 44% so far this year. That’s on pace for “the first three quarters of the year to be 20 percentage points lower than the high of 64% measured in 2010,” Gallup noted.
“The substantial decline in wellbeing among U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 and, to a somewhat lesser extent, those aged 30 to 44 is likely driven by a confluence of events, many of which have become more dire since the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Gallup. “Chief among these factors is the rise of clinical depression and loneliness (which has been particularly acute among younger men). These core mental health issues have become a substantial – and defining – issue for younger U.S. adults in the post-COVID era.”
Gallup noted that most of the decline in people reporting that they are thriving has occurred since 2019, though there was a “modest” decline over the course of the 2010s. In 2019, the thriving figure stood at 57% and then it dropped to 39% amid the COVID-19 pandemic the following year.
“After hitting that low point, the thriving rate for this group partially rebounded to 51% in 2023 before falling again,” Gallup said. Poll participants are asked to classify their current and future lives as thriving, struggling using a 10-step scale based on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale.
In addition to an increased percentage of the youngest U.S. adults who are treated for depression, Gallup’s recent polling showed a 17% decrease in people who said they experienced enjoyment the day before since the question was asked in 2019. When asked if their partnership with their spouse, partner or closest friend was “stronger than ever,” there was an even bigger drop of 18%.
There was also a 16% drop in people who said they felt active and productive every day during the previous seven-day period, a 14% drop in those who said there is a leader in their life who makes them feel enthusiastic about the future, a 14% drop in people who said they are satisfied with their standard of living compared to the people they spend time with, and a 13% drop in those who said they reached most of their goals over the past 12 months.
This year, Audacy reported on the low percentage of teens aged 16 to 19 working for a paycheck. We’ve also reported on how nearly half of young adults under age 30 live with their parents – even though most of those people are employed.
Issues that are “economic in nature,” have also been taking a toll on young American adults, Gallup said. It explained that these issues include “housing affordability, which has disproportionately affected younger Americans and is linked to worse life outcomes,” and that “increasing fears of losing jobs to AI disproportionately hit those under the age of 45, as does the rising job market pessimism, particularly among those with college degrees.”
Many Americans are paying off college debt and student loans in what has been called a student loan crisis. Last year, Audacy reported that an estimated 13% of student loan borrowers are at least 90 days past due on their payments, up from just under 8.5% in 2020.
Gen Z is also worried about the future. Gallup said that about “half of those aged 18 to 49 doubt that Medicare and Social Security will be available in 10 years’ time,” a far higher percentage than other age groups. At the same time, their “political and social trust, too, is eroding,” Gallup said, “with just 14% of those aged 18 to 34 reporting that they are ‘extremely proud’ to be an American, down 10 percentage points since 2025.”
Adults in the next age bracket up (millennials age 30 to 44) show a similar decline, with the 45% who said they were thriving through the first three quarters of 2026, compared with a high of 62% in 2016 and 2017. Gen Xers age 45 to 64 “have not dropped as much as younger groups, but their 46% thriving rate to date in 2026 matches their low from 2008,” Gallup added.
Baby boomers age 65 and older, however, seem to be having a good time. Per Gallup’s polling, this group had higher life evaluations than in the past, “climbing fairly steadily from 38% in 2008 to 53% thus far in 2026, matching their record high from 2021.”
