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Atlanta named the best city for singles in America

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By Fiza Pirani

If you’re single and dating, Atlanta’s the place to be.

In fact, the metro was recently named the best city for singles in the country in personal finance site WalletHub's 2018 ranking based on affordability, recreation and more.

Analysts compared 182 cities across the United States, including the 150 most populated cities, across three key dimensions: economics, fun/recreation and dating opportunities.

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They further evaluated the dimensions using 34 relevant metrics, such as average cocktail price, movie costs, median household income, number of attractions or restaurants per capita and share of single population.

Of the 182 cities on the list, Atlanta emerged the winner, a move up from No. 2 last year.

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While the city ranked second overall for dating opportunities and ninth for fun/recreation, it came in low for economics (No. 140). That’s likely due to Atlanta’s expensive meals or its high movie costs, for which the city ranked dead last.

While Atlanta earned top honors, other Georgia cities ranked quite low. Columbus came in at No. 94, while Augusta ranked 128th.

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Here’s more on how Atlanta fared:

  • Overall rank: 1
  • Dating opportunities: 2
  • Fun/recreation: 9
  • Economics: 140
  • Share of singles: 6
  • Restaurants per capita: 8
  • Nightlife options per capita: 10
  • Restaurant meal costs: 70
  • Mobile dating opportunities: 72
  • Online dating opportunities: 85

Other cities among the top five include Denver, San Francisco, Portland and Los Angeles.

When it comes to cost-effectiveness, Cape Coral, Florida, ranked first, followed by Peoria, Arizona. But both cities were among the bottom 25 overall.

New York and San Francisco both ranked first and second, respectively, for fun/recreation, though high costs dropped both to the bottom of the pack in the economics category.

Burlington, Vermont, was the only city to best Atlanta when it comes to dating opportunities.

As for the worst cities for singles on the list, Brownsville, Texas; Pembroke Pines, Florida; and Hialeah, Florida, rounded out the top three.

Explore the full ranking and methodology at WalletHub.com.

Cox Media Group

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