Top Cities For Singles: Bloomberg Study Puts Hoboken, New Jersey At Number One Spot

Top 15 U.S. Cities For Singles

Single and ready to mingle? It might be time to step outside of the big city to get your flirt on.

Your chances of finding a successful single man or woman are much higher in smaller cities like Hoboken, N.J. or Arlington, Va. than they are in places like the Big Apple or Washington, D.C., according to a recent study by Bloomberg.

To determine its list of “Swinging Singles Cities," Bloomberg ranked cities based on median household income for 15-64 year-olds living alone, percentage of the total population who are single and percentage of total males or females who are single using U.S. Census Bureau data from 2006-2010. Hoboken topped the list with single men (ages 15-64) raking in a median income of $94,500 and single women making an average income of $77,631.

Interestingly, the top five places on Bloomberg's list are all smaller cities outside of large metropolitan areas.

Finding Mr. or Mrs. Right might have a lot to do where you live. Nationwide, singles only made up 27 percent of all households in 2010, but in cities like Hoboken, 53 percent of all residents are still waiting to find their special someone.

According to the Fiscal Times, the percentage of one-person households hit a historic high in 2010, as young people put off marriage due to the weak economic recovery. The median age for a first marriage increased to 26.1 for women and 28.2 for men in 2010 up from 25.1 and 26.8, respectively, in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The rise in age of first time marriage could be related to the rising amount of college debt that students are taking on, a recent report by IHS Global Insight explains. The economic landscape has made it difficult for Americans in their 20s to reach financial independence forcing them to put off other financial responsibilities like marriage, USA Today reports.

But singles looking to cut down on costs might be doing just the opposite by staying alone, according to a 2010 study commissioned by price comparison website uSwitch. Over the course of a lifetime, single people could stand to spend more than $400,000 more than couples, BBC reported.

Of course, with 33 million people living alone in the U.S. in 2011, going solo is more than just an economic decision, the New York Times reports. Eric Klinenberg, an N.Y.U. sociology professor and the author of “Going Solo” points to changes in modern life that making living alone a more desired situation. For young working professionals, living alone is seen as a sign of success and a mark of freedom, according to Klinenberg.

Check out Bloomberg’s list of cities with the most successful single males. But beware: the Atlantic's Amanda Hess warns against taking "best cities for singles" lists too seriously. "Like a shelf stocked full with fancy mustards, too many potential mates makes it harder to settle on just one," she writes.

15. Frisco, Texas

Bloomberg’s "Swinging Singles Cities”

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