These are the best – and worst – cities for singles, report finds

11 November 2023

DENVER (KDVR) – Dating in some cities is easier than others. A recent study released the best, and worst, cities to date in.

Online rental platform Zumper released a study looking into the best and worst cities for singles. It weighed data on the single population, one-bedroom rent price, restaurants per capita, non-family median income and other metrics.


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Atlanta took the top spot, with Ohio and Florida both boasting multiple cities.

Top cities for singles

Atlanta, Georgia

St. Louis, Missouri

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Boston, Massachusetts

Madison, Wisconsin

Washington, D.C.

Orlando, Florida

Salt Lake City, Utah

Richmond, Virginia

Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

Cincinnati, Ohio

Denver, Colorado

Tallahassee, Florida

Charleston, South Carolina

Cleveland, Ohio

Some of the notable categories that went into the overall score and the cities that won them include: lowest median 1-bedroom rent (Wichita, Kansas), Largest percentage of singles (New Haven, Connecticut), entertainment options per capita (Gilbert, Arizona), restaurants per capita (Orlando, Florida), highest dating satisfaction (Gilbert, Arizona), lowest cost of living (Oklahoma City), lowest unemployment rate (Boise, Idaho) among others.

Worst cities for singles

Bakersfield, California

Santa Ana, California

Anaheim, California

Fresno, California

Newark, New Jersey

Plano, Texas

Irving, Texas

Wichita, Kansas

El Paso, Texas

Henderson, Nevada

Boise, Idaho

Arlington, Texas

Jersey City, New Jersey

Shreveport, Louisiana

San Antonio, Texas

When it comes to the worst cities to date in, there’s bad news for some California singles. The Golden State took the top four spots with Bakersfield leading the way, followed by Santa Ana, Anaheim and Fresno. The study’s author pointed to Bakersfield’s “limited dating satisfaction and entertainment,” and a lack of entertainment options pared with a high cost of living.


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“Fresno, California, follows closely, struggling with a lack of entertainment choices and a less than stellar dating scene,” the report found.

Rounding out the top five was Newark, New Jersey, where singles suffer when it comes to cost of living, entertainment and dating satisfaction, according to the report.

Zumper used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, its own rental price data, customer surveys and other sources. See the study for the full details.

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