In this piece, we will take a look at the 20 best cities for singles in their 30s. For more cities, take a look at 5 Best Cities for Singles in their 30s.
Dating in today's age is quite different from dating in the past. While people before the internet age actually had to go out and meet people, today we have the luxury of sifting through countless folks available through a variety of different applications. Data from the Census Bureau shows that there are 127 million single people in the U.S., so it's safe to say that there really are plenty of fish out in the sea. Building on this, what do these people think of the current dating market? Well, a survey from the Thriving Center Of Psychology ran a survey of 1,000 people to reveal some interesting insights. Its results show that 56% of the respondents believe that dating today is harder than in previous years.
At the cusp of this, it appears that high inflation has made it harder for people to go on dates. 26% of the respondents offer to split the bill on their dates, with a higher percentage of women (34%) looking to help out the other partner on a date. At the same time, 35% of the respondents reported that they are going out on fewer dates due to inflation, and interestingly, the statistics on stalking people might also surprise you. According to the survey, 65% of the women polled believe that stalking someone online is okay before going out on a date, while 34% of the men held similar opinions. It also revealed that almost a third of the respondents spent more than twenty minutes researching someone online. However, in what might be counterintuitive to what you've heard, 69% of the respondents were also perfectly happy with being single, as 91% of the 69% enjoyed their independence and a prudent 58% saved more money.
At the same time, dating has never been easier courtesy of the countless applications available that allow people to find a partner online. These applications have led to the firms that own and operate them having market capitalization in billions of dollars. For instance, firms like Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH), Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ:BMBL), and Grindr Inc. (NYSE:GRND) have market capitalizations of $8.9 billion, $3.73 billion, and $1 billion, respectively. The market is quite lucrative as well, with a research report from Grand View Market Research showing that the global online dating market was worth $9.65 billion in 2022 and will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% between 2023 and 2030 to sit at an estimated $17.2 billion at the end of the forecast period. The research firm adds that users aged between 18 years and 25 years are the largest portion as they account for 36% of the total market. Additionally, users aged between 25 years and 34 years will be the fastest growing segment in the market.
Adding these factors together, inflation is making dating hard but at the same time, the online market is expected to grow. At this point, you might be wondering how much an average American spends on dating. Well, Singles in America has just the data for you on this front. It shows that singles spend a whopping $117 billion on dating per year, which translates into $130 per month and $1,560 in a year. In short, most people spend the equivalent of buying a MacBook Pro on dating each year. Within the $130 spending estimates, the spending was equally distributed between in person dating, grooming, and clothes while the least was spent on dating applications (a fact that you'll learn is quite important below). These estimates are from a 5,000 people survey, so the full figure will be much larger.
So, people spend $130 per month on dates, but is this a universal figure? An analysis by LendingTree shows that while one third of people in 2019 declined a date because of a lack of money, the data from 2019 is important for the current context as it reflects just how much inflation has changed things. This is because research shows that back then people spent $700 annually on dates. However, spending across age groups was different as those aged between 24 and 39 spent $696, and older folks between 40 and 54 spent $903.
Moving back to the amounts people spend on online dating, these are actually quite important for the billion dollar firms we've mentioned above. For instance, executives of Match Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTCH) shared during its fourth quarter of 2022 earnings call:
So we moved quickly, and we made changes to the team. And we pushed really hard over the next six months thinking about our product roadmap and where we want to take the business. It was important to lock a roadmap that everyone was aligned on. We focused on two key areas: experience for our daters on our platform and future areas for monetization. As we are laying out the product roadmap, we actually found some problems in the foundation that we had to prioritize and fix. So the team rallied quickly on focusing on that. Our emphasis has always been on the health of our ecosystem, given that these foundational improvements will lead to better user experience, enable further monetization.
With these details in mind, let's take a look at the best cities for dating in America for people over 30.
To compile our list of the 20 best cities for dating for people over 30, we took a look at four reliable sources (1,2,3,4) to make a list of all cities that are best for dating. Then, each time a city appeared on a list, it was awarded a single point and the highest ranking cities for singles above 30 to date are listed below. For more cities, you can take a look at 15 Best Cities For Singles Over 40.
20 Best Cities for Singles in their 30s
20. Detroit, Michigan
Insider Monkey's Score: 1
Detroit is the largest city in Michigan and houses more than half a million people. The city houses a variety of important companies such as General Motors, HP, Deloitte, and KPMG.
19. Honolulu, Hawaii
Insider Monkey's Score: 1
Honolulu is the capital city of Hawaii and also the most populous in the state. The city has a vibrant tourism economy and it is also an important port location for its state.
18. Houston, Texas
Insider Monkey's Score: 1
Houston is the largest city in Texas in terms of population. It is also one of the largest cities in America with more than two million people living in the city. It is a hub for the energy industry.
17. Memphis, Tennessee
Insider Monkey's Score: 1
Memphis is the second largest city in Tennessee in terms of population. It is a hub for transportation in the city and is a major supplier of aircraft parts and has also the headquarters of FedEx.
16. Nashville, Tennessee
Insider Monkey's Score: 1
Nashville is the capital and the largest city in Tennessee. It is one of the oldest cities in America set up in 1779 and also one of the most historic ones as well since it was named after a general in the American Revolution.
15. Tampa, Florida
Insider Monkey's Score: 1
Tampa is a coastal city in Florida that has one of the largest ports in America.
14. Palo Alto, California
Insider Monkey's Score: 2
Palo Alto is a city in Santa Clara, California. It is one of the biggest technology hubs in the U.S. and is best known for housing the renowned Stanford University. The city has given birth to some of the largest technology firms in the world such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Tesla.
13. Portland, Oregon
Insider Monkey's Score: 2
Portland is the largest city in Oregon and houses more than half a million people. It is an important port location in its state.
12. New York City, New York
Insider Monkey's Score: 2
New York City is the largest city in America in terms of population. It is also a financial hub in America.
11. Atlanta, Georgia
Insider Monkey's Score: 2
Atlanta is the capital of Georgia and also the largest city in the state in terms of population. It is an economic hub in the U.S. and has the headquarters of firms such as Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and Delta Airlines.
10. San Francisco, California
Insider Monkey's Score: 3
San Francisco is a major city on the West Coast, famous for a variety of things such as its culture and high costs.
9. Miami, Florida
Insider Monkey's Score: 3
Miami is a coastal city in Florida which makes it a hub for the cruise industry.
8. Boston, Massachusetts
Insider Monkey's Score: 3
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and has a strong presence of the life sciences industry.
7. Austin, Texas
Insider Monkey's Score: 3
Austin is the capital city of Texas with almost a million people living in its boundaries.
6. Denver, Colorado
Insider Monkey's Score: 3
Denver is the most populous city in Colorado and a hub for aerospace manufacturing in the U.S.
