If you’re looking for the best places in the United States to be single, you might want to start by heading west of the Mississippi River. That’s one of the biggest takeaways from a new study from WalletHub which analyzed 182 cities to determine which are the best (and worst) for singles.
Serendipitously, the city that topped the list is also the setting of the film Singles. Seattle had the highest overall score — though it placed second overall when it comes to dating opportunities. The second city on the list — Madison, Wisconsin — was the lead in that category. The top five was rounded out by Denver, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. (Though Portland, Maine didn’t do too badly on the list, either — it placed 21st overall.)
Based on the survey results, the New York metropolitan area is something of a mixed bag for singles. New York City itself finished 151st overall, with Yonkers below that at number 161. Jersey City, on the other hand, placed a respectable 63rd overall. Finishing last in the rankings was Warwick, Rhode Island, which placed 182nd out of 182.
WalletHub’s methodology centered around three categories. Economic factors included the price of meals and drinks, as well as fitness club memberships and housing availability. Recreational factors ranged from the number of parks and clubs in a given city to the percentage of people vaccinated against COVID-19. The third category focused on dating opportunities, which ranged from the proportion of singles in a given city to how many people were searching for “Tinder.”
Unhappily single residents of some of the cities atop the chart may disagree with the findings, which is understandable. But the full array of data evaluated here points to another unsettling conclusion: dating is complicated, and it can be complicated for many reasons.
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