D.C. Ranks Among Top 10 States for Singles
With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, a survey released Wednesday ranked Washington, D.C. among the best 10 states in the United States for singles, ranking the District as ninth best. Neighboring states Virginia and Maryland were ranked 29th and 42nd, respectively.
The study was compiled by D.C.-based WalletHub, a personal finance website that regularly ranks American states and cities on a variety of social and economic subjects.
On a side note, if you have already found love, WalletHub researchers estimate that you will spend an average of $136.57 this year on Valentine’s Day.
The survey found that besides your looks, personality and employment status, your location can influence your odds of finding a romantic partner. While everyone has different priorities when searching for love, some places are more conducive than others to dating.
In states with a low cost of living, for instance, your income might stretch further, which means cheaper or more frequent dates, depending on what you value more — or your level of stamina. But with a bit more financial leverage, you might appreciate a state with more attractions guaranteeing new experiences for both you and your potential other half. But dating is also a numbers game, so a state with a higher proportion of single adults improves your prospects.
To find which states combine all those qualities and more, WalletHub’s data team compared the 50 states and the District in three categories and 23 sub-categories. “Dating opportunities” analyzed the number of singles, ratio of single women to single men, percentage of households with a broadband Internet connections, percentage of adults who own a smartphone and online-dating participation. “Dating economics” included average beer and wine prices, movie costs, beauty salon costs, haircut costs, median annual household income, housing affordability (rent for a one-bedroom apartment), job growth rate, overall well-being index, unemployment rate for singles and overall unemployment rate. And “romance and fun” looked at restaurants per capita, number of attractions such as museums, cultural performances and zoos, nature parks and other similar institutions per capita, fitness and recreational facilities per capita, movie theaters per capita, music festivals per capita, nightlife options per capita and the crime rate.
The data came from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FBI, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, TripAdvisor, Gallup and other sources.
Topping the list was Washington state with a total score of 55.70. It ranked second in dating opportunities, 30th in dating economics and 16th in romance and fun. In last place was Mississippi with an overall raking of 25.93. It ranked 51st in dating opportunities, 42nd in dating economics and 51st in romance and fun.
Locally, the District, which earned an overall score of 48.59, ranked sixth in dating opportunities, 46th in dating economics (we know how expensive it is to live here!) and sixth in romance and fun. Virginia earned an overall score of 42.49 overall, raking 17th in dating opportunities, 20th in dating economics and 35th in romance and fun, while Maryland got an overall score of 37.14 and ranked 31st in dating opportunities, 27th in dating economics and third in romance and fun.
D.C. ranked first in the percentage of single adults, 27th in online-dating opportunities, first in mobile-dating opportunities, fourth in median annual household income, first in restaurants per capita, 26th in movie theaters per capita and 24th in its unemployment rate for the single population.
10 best states to be single:
1. Washington
2. Colorado
3. California
4. Montana
5. South Dakota
6. Texas
7. Hawaii
8. Nevada
9. District of Columbia
10. Florida
10 worst states to be single:
42. Maryland
43. Tennessee
44. South Carolina
45. New Mexico
46. Kentucky
47. Alaska
48. West Virginia
49. Arkansas
50. Alabama
51. Mississippi
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.