Many of us will be looking for love in this new year, whether that means revamping our online dating profiles or hoping your bestie will hook you up with her adorable newly single friend. However you look for love, it’s interesting to know that where you look — and from where you are seeking — are important factors in meeting someone special.
WalletHub recently released its list of the best and worst cities for singles. That is, even if you suck at the dating game, you may not be completely to blame — your city could be putting a damper on your dating ability, according to their data.
They found that about 105 million adults in the U.S. are single. They ranked 150 of the most populated cities in the U.S. using 25 different metrics such as percentage of singles, nightlife offerings and mobile dating opportunities.
Want to know if you’re stuck in a dating desert, or if your city is the prime place to find love? The following are the top 10 “best” and “worst” cities for singles:
The best cities for singles
1. Boise, ID
2. Madison, WI
3. Denver, CO
4. Austin, TX
5. Lincoln, NE
6. Omaha, NE
7. Salt Lake City, UT
8. Reno, NV
9. Minneapolis, MN
10. Raleigh, NC
Worst cities for singles
141. Mobile, AL
142. Glendale, CA
143. Philadelphia, PA
144. New York, NY
145. Jersey City, NJ
146. Peoria, AZ
147. Brownsville, TX
148. North Las Vegas, NV
149. Hialeah, FL
150. Yonkers, NY
After seeing how your area measures up, it may leave you feeling a little hopeless. Don’t be — there is plenty you can do if you’re living in an area that isn’t exactly bustling with prospects. We reached out to some dating gurus to find out how to get a date no matter where you live.
1. Start living
“Follow a life of interest and passions,” suggests John Keegan, a dating coach from New York City. “Design your life around enthusiasm. Join classes and groups that will better your life and also have other like-minded people in them.” He said that fitness classes, language courses and other activities are a great way to meet like-minded people and enjoy life while you’re at it.
2. Go online, but don’t rely on it
Keegan advises not to make online dating the primary way to meet people. “It’s very dangerous, because it withdraws you from being social, and real great people walk by you all day every day,” he says. “You’re missing them because you’re too busy entertaining several people on the internet that you haven’t even met and most likely don’t have any chemistry with.”
3. Embrace strangers
Keegan says the main reason people aren’t meeting people in the desert or in a major metropolis is because they’re closed off or they’re not open to the people around them. “Be open, make eye contact, smile, wave, and say hello to easily connect with new people,” he says. In fact, try to connect with at least five strangers a day, he adds. “It’s so simple yet it can start off an amazing relationship.”
Melani Robinson, a dating specialist and writer from New York City, agrees that it can pay off to pursue a stranger that you have some sort of connection with. “We randomly see someone we’re attracted to, our eyes meet and we smile. Then we walk on by,” she says. “Don’t do that anymore.” She says it’s important to have the courage to approach the stranger, who is probably interested in you as well.
4. Forget the numbers
Laurie Davis, founder of eFlirt and author of Love @ First Click, said not to get too caught up in rankings like the one mentioned above — in other words, just because your city is on the list of “worst” places to date, or you think it should be, it doesn’t really matter. “These things are statistic-based — the percentage of singles in a city, the ratio of men to women — but you don’t fall in love because of numbers,” Davis says. “I’ve seen women in some of the ‘best’ cities struggle and women in some of the ‘worst’ thrive.”
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