Community involvement as a core value falls to 27%
Fewer Americans now treat showing up for community as a central value, even when many still say it is somewhat important.
Community used to be something people inherited through church, school, neighbors, clubs, teams, and local routines. Now it has to compete with private comfort and digital life.
Community involvement being “very important” fell from 62% in 2019 to 27% in 2023.
- weaker local institutions
- more private digital life
- less repeated in-person contact
- people feeling too busy or financially stressed to show up
If you want a strong life, you may have to choose community on purpose. Modern life will not automatically build it for you.
Behind the numbersOpen
The WSJ/NORC values poll asked how important community involvement is personally. In 2023, 27% said very important, while 80% said very or somewhat important. Historical comparisons reported by news summaries of the same poll show 47% in 1998 and 62% in 2019 saying very important. This is a value measure, not the same as actual volunteering. AmeriCorps/Census data show formal volunteering rebounded to 28.3% in 2023 after a 23.2% pandemic low in 2021, so behavior is mixed: the personal ranking of community fell harder than all forms of helping.