You single?
Looking to mingle?
Maybe both?
The best cities for singles in the United States have you covered if looking for love is on the agenda.
And just because we aren’t getting married as often as we used to doesn’t mean we aren’t still dating. According to the United States Census, Americans are waiting until later in life to settle down.
Perhaps social media and dating sites are making it harder to settle down because there’s too many choices.
Where are the best cities for single people in America? Here’s what we found using Saturday Night Science.
People in Cambridge may be a little older than in some of the other cities on this list, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun. In fact, studies say people prefer dating someone who is more experienced, anyways.
If you live in Cambridge and you have kids, you’re certainly a minority.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Welcome to Arlington, where you should be meeting single people all the time. While the married percentage is higher than other cities, the average age isn’t too bad. Another bright side is the number of successful and educated people. That means that hot girl across the bar is a smarty pants, too!
Data | Cost of living | Movers
Welcome to Ann Arbor, where you can’t help but to bump into single people every single time you go out.
Sure, it helps that it’s a college town, but come on – look at the numbers. Only 1 in 3 households is married and only 1 in 5 homes has a kid.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
Boston has a lot going for it; besides a vibrant singles scene, there’s a ton of places to meet up. We’d be shocked if everyone wasn’t swiping right. Maybe one reason there’s so many people who aren’t married in Boston – everyone has an attitude. They can’t put up with one another for too long.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
With a city this big, you’d expect to find a ton of people out and about late at night. And you’d be right; not only are there a ton of places for singles to meet, there are a ton of single people filling them up.
If you’re married with kids in Seattle, you’re BORING.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
Of course, most of these cities are going to be college towns (or near college towns). So if you’re a 25-year-old looking to find someone new, you’d love a place like Berkeley. If you’re a 60-year-old looking for love, you’d better hope that there are some single professors around. Or, you’d better have some money.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers | Compare
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is the United States’s statewide median.
On the map
Where the best cities for singles in America are
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we crunched the numbers on the best cities for singles in the US for 2026
We used Saturday Night Science in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Taking the 2020-2024 American Community Survey Census data, we looked at the 100 biggest cities in the United States. We paid particular attention to:
We then gave each city a Singles Score.
- Population density
- % of population that’s male vs. female (closer to a 50-50 ratio is better)
- % of households with kids
- Median age
- Number of unmarried people in each city
The higher the score, the better the city is for singles to find one another.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our eleventh time ranking the best cities for singles to mingle in America.
The full list
Best Cities For Singles In America For 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Median Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge, MA | 118,796 | 30.4 |
| 2 | Arlington, VA | 236,254 | 35.5 |
| 3 | Ann Arbor, MI | 122,036 | 27.7 |
| 4 | Boulder, CO | 106,433 | 28.8 |
| 5 | Providence, RI | 191,767 | 32.8 |
| 6 | Boston, MA | 666,442 | 33.3 |
| 7 | Seattle, WA | 754,195 | 35.6 |
| 8 | Madison, WI | 278,001 | 31.8 |
| 9 | Berkeley, CA | 120,257 | 33.2 |
| 10 | Fort Collins, CO | 170,229 | 30.9 |
| 11 | Minneapolis, MN | 427,246 | 33.4 |
| 12 | Denver, CO | 718,877 | 35.3 |
| 13 | Spring Valley, NV | 219,187 | 39.9 |
| 14 | Norfolk, VA | 233,596 | 32.7 |
| 15 | Los Angeles, CA | 3,857,263 | 37.2 |
| 16 | Tempe, AZ | 188,065 | 30.0 |
| 17 | Washington, DC | 681,294 | 34.9 |
| 18 | Sunrise Manor, NV | 200,218 | 33.7 |
| 19 | Dallas, TX | 1,307,930 | 33.4 |
| 20 | Miami, FL | 459,745 | 39.3 |
| 21 | New Haven, CT | 134,349 | 31.9 |
| 22 | Elizabeth, NJ | 137,302 | 35.8 |
| 23 | Atlanta, GA | 505,268 | 34.2 |
| 24 | Portland, OR | 641,165 | 38.8 |
| 25 | Tampa, FL | 401,618 | 35.9 |
| 26 | Newark, NJ | 310,178 | 34.7 |
| 27 | Alexandria, VA | 156,976 | 37.7 |
| 28 | Worcester, MA | 207,055 | 33.9 |
| 29 | Albany, NY | 100,492 | 32.0 |
| 30 | Paterson, NJ | 158,735 | 33.3 |
| 31 | Syracuse, NY | 146,384 | 31.8 |
| 32 | Oakland, CA | 439,418 | 37.9 |
| 33 | Lowell, MA | 118,368 | 35.6 |
| 34 | St. Paul, MN | 307,284 | 33.7 |
| 35 | Pittsburgh, PA | 304,759 | 33.6 |
| 36 | Tucson, AZ | 547,073 | 34.6 |
| 37 | Salinas, CA | 161,761 | 32.4 |
| 38 | Fargo, ND | 131,627 | 31.8 |
| 39 | San Francisco, CA | 830,235 | 40.0 |
| 40 | Paradise, NV | 185,913 | 39.3 |
| 40 | Lakewood, CO | 156,583 | 38.2 |
| 42 | Las Vegas, NV | 660,400 | 38.6 |
| 43 | Chicago, IL | 2,711,226 | 35.8 |
| 43 | Eugene, OR | 179,591 | 35.2 |
| 45 | Irving, TX | 256,492 | 32.8 |
| 46 | Santa Maria, CA | 110,462 | 29.3 |
| 47 | Gainesville, FL | 145,702 | 26.5 |
| 48 | Quincy, MA | 102,114 | 38.6 |
| 49 | Hartford, CT | 121,127 | 33.1 |
| 50 | Bridgeport, CT | 149,153 | 36.7 |
| 51 | Allentown, PA | 125,976 | 33.1 |
| 52 | San Diego, CA | 1,389,526 | 36.2 |
| 53 | Colorado Springs, CO | 487,887 | 35.7 |
| 54 | Renton, WA | 105,317 | 36.5 |
| 54 | Phoenix, AZ | 1,642,323 | 34.9 |
| 56 | Rochester, NY | 208,772 | 33.7 |
| 57 | Manchester, NH | 115,643 | 38.0 |
| 58 | Clearwater, FL | 117,247 | 46.6 |
| 59 | Milwaukee, WI | 566,973 | 32.4 |
| 60 | Columbia, SC | 139,643 | 28.6 |
| 61 | Urban Honolulu, HI | 345,482 | 43.0 |
| 62 | Mesa, AZ | 511,764 | 37.4 |
| 63 | Dayton, OH | 136,579 | 34.1 |
| 64 | Enterprise, NV | 240,464 | 36.9 |
| 65 | Santa Clara, CA | 130,256 | 34.6 |
| 66 | Houston, TX | 2,328,253 | 34.4 |
| 67 | Pasadena, CA | 136,969 | 40.1 |
| 67 | Garden Grove, CA | 170,964 | 40.2 |
| 69 | College Station, TX | 124,570 | 22.9 |
| 70 | Pomona, CA | 147,943 | 36.0 |
| 71 | San Mateo, CA | 103,105 | 38.3 |
| 72 | Lynn, MA | 101,709 | 36.5 |
| 73 | Columbus, OH | 914,802 | 33.2 |
| 74 | Long Beach, CA | 455,548 | 37.1 |
| 75 | East Los Angeles, CA | 111,647 | 34.7 |
| 76 | St. Louis, MO | 288,512 | 36.8 |
| 77 | San Bernardino, CA | 222,724 | 32.2 |
| 78 | Baltimore, MD | 573,243 | 36.2 |
| 79 | Cincinnati, OH | 311,224 | 33.2 |
| 80 | Spokane, WA | 230,293 | 37.2 |
| 81 | Bellevue, WA | 151,847 | 38.5 |
| 81 | Clarksville, TN | 176,456 | 31.0 |
| 83 | Westminster, CO | 115,484 | 37.4 |
| 84 | Cleveland, OH | 366,097 | 36.3 |
| 85 | Lansing, MI | 113,023 | 33.7 |
| 86 | Grand Rapids, MI | 198,535 | 32.3 |
| 86 | Vancouver, WA | 195,300 | 37.9 |
| 88 | West Palm Beach, FL | 122,290 | 41.1 |
| 89 | Reno, NV | 273,212 | 37.1 |
| 90 | Las Cruces, NM | 114,197 | 33.0 |
| 91 | Sunnyvale, CA | 154,236 | 35.2 |
| 92 | Chandler, AZ | 280,136 | 37.5 |
| 93 | Cape Coral, FL | 215,536 | 48.6 |
| 94 | Fresno, CA | 545,970 | 32.8 |
| 95 | North Charleston, SC | 119,913 | 34.6 |
| 95 | Chico, CA | 102,188 | 31.1 |
| 97 | New York, NY | 8,483,844 | 38.2 |
| 98 | Oxnard, CA | 200,928 | 34.4 |
| 99 | Glendale, AZ | 252,833 | 34.6 |
| 100 | Philadelphia, PA | 1,579,706 | 35.3 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. The 330 largest US cities.
Summary
There You Have It – The Best Cities For Singles In America
If you’re looking for the best cities in America where you can find single people – and likely someone to date – this is an accurate list. If you live in one of these places, get out there and find someone to complete your night.
The best cities for singles in the United States are Cambridge, MA, Arlington, VA, Ann Arbor, MI, Boulder, CO, Providence, RI, Boston, MA, Seattle, WA, Madison, WI, Berkeley, CA, and Fort Collins, CO.
Questions and answers
Best Cities For Singles In America FAQs
What city is ranked #1 for singles?
Cambridge, MA is the best city for singles in America for 2026, based on Saturday Night Science. Arlington and Ann Arbor are next.
What are the best cities for singles in the US?
The best big cities for singles are Cambridge, MA, Arlington, VA, Ann Arbor, MI, Boulder, CO, Providence, RI, Boston, MA, Seattle, WA, Madison, WI, Berkeley, CA, and Fort Collins, CO. We ranked the 330 largest US cities on density, sex ratio, median age, and share of unmarried residents.
How do you rank cities for singles?
Four measures: population density, gender balance, median age, and the share of unmarried residents, all from Census American Community Survey data. More available people close by means better odds.
Why did Cambridge come out on top?
Cambridge posts the best combination of unmarried residents, a dating-friendly age mix, and enough density to actually meet people. No single stat wins it — the blend does.
What is the toughest big city to be single in?
Menifee, CA ranks last for singles among the 330 biggest US cities — more married households, fewer chances to mingle. Moving there for love is a bold strategy.
