Friday, January 08, 2016

By John Voket I have occasionally focused on issues related to the migration of singles - particularly into a growing number of exciting urban areas across the country. But which cities offer the most, best features for today's singles?

The personal finance website WalletHub recently released an in-depth analysis of 2015’s Best & Worst Cities for Singles.

According to the survey, some singles are closer to a happily ever after than they think, but it depends on where they live. To identify the cities in which singles have the highest chance of finding a significant other, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 150 most populated U.S. cities across 25 key metrics.

WalletHub’s data set ranges from the percentage of singles to the number of online-dating opportunities to the number of attractions in each city. So which cities stack up as the best and worst on the survey:

Salt Lake City, Utah; Orlando, Fla.; Tempe and Scottsdale Ariz.; and Atlanta, Ga. round out the top five. While Yonkers, N.Y.; Hialeah, Fla.; North Las Vegas, Nev.; Glendale, Calif.; and Detroit, Mich. come up last in the survey.

Some key stats of interest include:

• The average restaurant meal cost is highest in New York, three times more expensive than in Aurora, Colo., which has the lowest.
• The average price for a bottle of wine is highest in Atlanta, four times more expensive than in Indianapolis, which has the lowest.
• The average price for a movie is highest in Oxnard, Calif., two times more expensive than in Corpus Christi, Texas, which has the lowest.
• The percentage of single persons is highest in Detroit, two times as many as in Fremont, Calif., which has the lowest.
• The number of nightlife attractions per capita is highest in Las Vegas, 22 times more than in Hialeah, Fla., which has the lowest.
• The number of cafés per capita is highest in Seattle, 40 times more than in Laredo, Texas, which has the lowest.
• The number of online dating opportunities is highest in Gilbert, Ariz., two times more than in Detroit, which has the lowest.

For the full report and to see all top 150 city ranks, visit wallethub.com.

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