Singles aren’t thrilled with Sacramento dating scene, pre-Valentine’s Day survey says
If you’re feeling lonely in Sacramento, you’re not alone.
For the second time in less than a year, Apartment List put out a survey focusing on thousands of single renters nationwide, and ranked dozens of U.S. metro areas by residents’ satisfaction with the local dating scene.
And, for the second time in less than a year, Sacramento showed up near the bottom of the list, with less than one out of every five respondents saying they were happy with the dating scene.
The recent survey asked renters, “How would you rate your current city or neighborhood for opportunities to date?” giving five choices ranging from “very unsatisfied” to “very satisfied,” and ranked metro areas based on the percentage who said they were “very” or “somewhat” satisfied.
Only about 18.6 percent of Sacramento renters were sufficiently pleased with the local dating pool, putting California’s capital at a disappointing No. 72 out of 86.
That figure wasn’t too different from the one Apartment List put out last fall in a similar survey, framed a little differently as the “Best Cities for Singles,” which placed Sacramento at No. 112 out of 130, with just 17 percent of singles saying they were satisfied with dating. On top of that, only 42 percent said they were satisfied with their social life in Sacramento. Ouch.
There were a few interesting distinctions this time around. Whereas the September survey saw fairly similar results between men and women — 17 percent of the former and 19 percent of the latter claiming satisfaction — there was a bigger gap between male and female respondents in the February list. More than 27 percent of men surveyed said they were at least somewhat satisfied, while women slid down to 18 percent.
No city on the list saw a majority of those surveyed indicate they were satisfied with the dating scene. The No. 1 metro area on the list was Provo, Utah, home of Brigham Young University, where 47.5 percent said they were happy. California’s top city was San Diego (No. 11, 35.7 percent), which was also the top metro area overall for males at 53.2 percent satisfaction.
The bottom three on the nationwide list were all in Florida: Lakeland, Deltona and North Port, each with fewer than 10 percent of singles telling Apartment List they were satisfied with their dating life.
The renters’ website released the previous list in September, on the eve of National Singles Day, and posted the most recent survey results less than two weeks before Valentine’s Day. Interpret that however you’d like.
Apartment List used data taken between Feb. 15 and Dec. 31 of last year. Responses included over 20,000 renters from the 86 metro areas, and incorporated ratings “from both heterosexual and LGBTQIA respondents,” according to Apartment List’s website.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 1:21 PM with the headline "Singles aren’t thrilled with Sacramento dating scene, pre-Valentine’s Day survey says."
