Lifestyle Relationship Tips

These Are the Best States for Finding a Healthy Love Connection in Time for Valentine’s Day

Tamim Alnuweiri

February 6, 2018

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Photo: Stocksy/Clique Images

A combination of Tinder fatigue, a few bad dates, and the looming presence of dating burnout can have you wondering (in your best Carrie Bradshaw voice) if you're looking for love in all the wrong places—especially with Valentine's Day looming. Is it possible that there are no eligible single people in your entire state? Would you really have better luck if you lived across the country? Well, according to a new study conducted by WalletHub, yes, your location can have a very real impact on your dating life.

Using data from several sources—including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the FBI—WalletHub judged each state based on 27 metrics that could affect dating culture, such as annual household income adjusted for cost of living (a higher expendable budget might mean more frequent dates); the number of restaurants, attractions, and other date-night activities; and the percentage of single adults.

And the results packed good and bad news for everyone: If your state ranked high for dating, it implies you have better odds of finding a love connection than do those who live in states that ranked at the bottom. But if you reside in one of the unlucky states at the tail end of the ranking—well, at least you have some data-driven affirmation that it's not you, it's where you live.

The top five states for singles are California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Pennsylvania, and the lowest-ranking five states are Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

Ultimately, the data showed the top five states for singles are California, Florida, New York, Texas, and Pennsylvania, and the lowest-ranking five states are Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and Arkansas. But this doesn't actually correlate perfectly with the percentage of single adults across the states. WalletHub found that states with the highest proportion of singles are Louisiana, Rhode Island, New Mexico, New York, and Mississippi.

Furthermore, if you're searching for love or companionship on the internet, WalletHub named Washington, Colorado, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Alaska as the top five best places for striking a digital flame. The five worst states for online dating, according to the research? Louisiana, West Virginia, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

And if all else fails for connecting with your digital crush or IRL date, remember that a picture (or, actually, a GIF) says a thousand words, and guac is a veritable contemporary aphrodisiac.

Before you pick your next locale, check out the best cities in which to start a relationship and the best places for an active lifestyle.