The Best Cities for Singles

No matter where you live, the pressure to couple up may be intense. Family,friends and others think you should "get out there" and start meeting people. But get out where? Are you living in the best city for people who are single and ready to mingle? U.S. Census data may be one place to start, looking at who's not married in your city. But an even better and more recent barometer would be Facebook, which is where the Wall Street Journal went when looking for people who, over the course of one month, had changed their relationship status from "single" to "in a relationship."  It may surprise you to know that big cities, namely San Francisco and New York, had low rates of people starting relationships. But it can seem overwhelming to narrow down choices from literally thousands of people. So a small-ish town topped the list – Colorado Springs, Colo. Other cities that scored high on coupling were Louisville, Ky., and three Texas cities – El Paso, Fort Worth and San Antonio. The Facebook data found that where thereare a higher percentage of outdoor activities, thereare a higher percentage of men.


Rent.com did its own study of cities where singles just want to have fun, not necessarily form relationships. That study was based on cities with more than 50,000 renters and those with populations greater than 100,000. Not surprisingly, those cities with lots to do made the list. San Francisco topped the list, followed  by New York, both of which have plenty to do and plenty of opportunities to meet people. One city that made both lists is Portland, Ore., which Facebook found had a high single male-to-female ratio. The Rent.com study found that there's plenty to do, particularly for those who like to be outdoors and care about the environment. The most recent Forbes analysis from May 2016 included surveys from Town and Country magazine, NerdWallet and WalletHub to (mostly) concur with Facebook and Rent.com -- Atlanta once again topped the list, followed by San Francisco and Minneapolis, which had a good balance of men to women and plenty of single people.