With Valentine's Day around the corner, many people have romance on the brain. But if your love life isn't where you want it to be, it might be less about you and more about your geography. Your success (or lack of it) when it comes to dating actually has plenty to do with your location, research shows. Indeed, the state where you live has major bearing on your dating potential, according to a new analysis that parses the nitty-gritty dating data in 2022.
The WalletHub.com study investigates the best and worst states to live in for dating and relationships. The methodology digs deep into both the economics and the opportunities, both demographic and recreational, that may help you meet a match and have fun in the process.
To come up with a ranked list, the study scored all 50 states based on 30 key indicators of dating friendliness such as the share of single adults, the number of online dating opportunities, restaurants and movie theaters per capita, annual household income, and more.
When you're in the dating game, all these details really matter. For instance, if you have a lower income but live in an area with a low cost of living, you might make your disposable cash stretch a lot further, resulting in cheaper or more frequent dates. On the flip side, if you're more financially stable, your ideal state for dating might be one that offers more attractions to take advantage of with your potential mate.
Beyond that, as many singles know from experience out in the field, dating is simply a numbers game: In a place with a higher proportion of single adults, you'll be statistically likelier to nail down a happy match amid the crowd.
According to the study, California (with the most fitness and recreational opportunities of any state, plus the best economics) and New York (with the most dating opportunities overall) are the two best states to live around the nation for dating. Florida, Texas, and Pennsylvania round out the top five, respectively.
But singles in the following six states aren't as lucky—the analysis reveals these to be the worst states for dating in 2022.
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6 | Kentucky
ShutterstockKentucky ranks low on the list with subpar dating economics as well as opportunities for dating and fun around the state.
5 | Mississippi
iStockMississippi ranks dead last of any state in the union when it comes to online dating opportunities. It also has few movie theaters per capita, and ranks low for median annual income.
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3 | Wyoming
iStockWhile Wyoming ranks overall fairly high for dating economics, it ranks poorly (coming in at 44th among the 50 states) for fun and romance opportunities.
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2 | Arkansas
ShutterstockOnly Mississippi is worse than Arkansas for total online dating opportunities, according to the research. Overall, Arkansas is second to last on the list, with a high crime rate and overall few opportunities for romance and fun around the state.
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1 | West Virginia
ShutterstockSadly for West Virginians looking for love in 2022, the state comes in dead last on the list as the worst state for singles, according to the WalletHub.com research. It has the fewest dating opportunities for both the mobile and online categories and also has the lowest median annual income among all states. Without disposable income to wine and dine potential dates, and relatively few places to take them anyway, singles in West Virginia might understandably face a tough time meeting the partner of their dreams. (Perhaps it's time for a move to the coast!)
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