Are you trying to find love in California?
Or are you just looking to hook up?
Either way, we’ve got you covered here. At least, we’ll point you in the right direction – which is why you came here in the first place, right?
According to the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans who have remained single (not married) is growing. That means, people are dating a lot longer than they used to.
There are many reasons for that, including financial and cultural. And, we suspect smartphones and social media has a lot to do with it, too. After all, we’re all a lot more distracted these days.
If you live in California, there’s a pretty good chance there are a lot of singles in your area. The Golden State ranks in the top 10 when it comes to number of people over the age of 18 who aren’t married, or in a serious relationship. That’s great news for people looking for their match.
So, where are the best cities for singles in California? We’ve got the answers here.
These are the best cities for singles in California for 2019. Try not to jump in the car with a dozen roses:
- Santa Cruz (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Berkeley (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Los Angeles (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Long Beach (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- San Francisco (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Davis (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- San Luis Obispo (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Santa Barbara (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- San Pablo (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Hawthorne (Photos | Homes For Sale)
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how each city ranked. If you live in or really close to one of these cities, and you’re single, you should probably get out more often. And stop staring at your phone. Just sayin’.
The most boring place in California? That would be Lafayette.
And after you find a mate, you’ll no doubt want to start a family and buy a home right? Don’t forget to check out the best places to live in California or the safest places to live in California.
For more California reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In California
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In California
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In California
How do you determine which city is best for singles in California anyways?
To give you the places in California which are best for singles to find one another, we have to look at a handful of metrics. Of course, we want to measure the type of people who live in each city, and make some assumptions about what single people like.
So we researched the internet for a database that contains all that information.
How we crunched the numbers for the Golden State
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the 2013-2017 American Community Survey Census data produced for the state of California, we looked at every single city in the state. We paid particular attention to:
- Population density
- % of population that’s male vs. female (closer to a 50-50 ratio is better)
- % of households with kids
- Median age
- Number of unmarried people in each city
We then gave each city a Singles Score.
The higher the score, the better the city is for singles to find one another. We also limited our results to cities with populations over 10,000 people. For California, that meant a total of 360 cities.
Read on to see why Santa Cruz is the talk of the town while Lafayette is probably a bit on the boring side.
/10
Population: 63,993
Median Age: 29.3
Married households: 33.2%
Households with kids: 18.2%
More on Santa Cruz: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California. As of 2013 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Santa Cruz’s population at 62,864.
Santa Cruz is one of my favorite places on the planet. It has a laid-back, surfer, hippie feel to it. While I would recommend holding on to one’s purse in the downtown area, the overall feel of Santa Cruz is one of chic cafes, interesting shops, artsy souvenirs, street musicians, bookstores, etc.
One of my favorite places includes Miramar’s on the wharf. I love the restaurant’s glass wall that allows me to watch surfers, sea lions and sailboats while I indulge in clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.
I especially love being in Santa Cruz for the Woodies on the Wharf parade. The classic cars are a beautiful sight against the sun, the sand and the surf.
/10
Population: 120,179
Median Age: 31.0
Married households: 34.9%
Households with kids: 18.6%
More on Berkeley: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills. The 2010 census recorded a population of 112,580.
/10
Population: 3,949,776
Median Age: 35.2
Married households: 38.4%
Households with kids: 26.3%
More on Los Angeles: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
The city is terribly dirty and there are homeless people everywhere.
The bugs. At night, it’s best to not watch the ground. If you do you will be greeted by hundreds of large insects.
/10
Population: 470,489
Median Age: 34.3
Married households: 38.4%
Households with kids: 28.6%
More on Long Beach: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Long Beach is a city on the Pacific Coast of the United States, within the Greater Los Angeles area of Southern California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257. It is the 36th most populous city in the United States and the 7th most populous in California. Long Beach is the second largest city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and the third largest in Southern California behind Los Angeles and San Diego.
I moved to Long Beach to attend Cal State University Long Beach. Honestly, it changed my life. I grew up in a different suburb in California, but Long Beach is so different. I wouldn’t necessarily live here for my whole life, but it was definitely worth coming here for college. I like coming back and visiting here to see my friends.
My favorite thing about Long Beach is that there are honestly always places to go to, and it’s not too far to go to other fun cities like LA. It’s not too quiet but never too loud either unless you live somewhere that is filled with college students. The weather is great, too. And of course, we’re near a few beaches, so that’s great.
/10
Population: 864,263
Median Age: 38.3
Married households: 35.3%
Households with kids: 16.6%
More on San Francisco: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
I live here now and I like that it has what I call “flavor”. I grew up in a small suburban very safe small town. It was ranked “Best small town to raise a family in CA” once in some random magazine. I like that San Francisco has character, lots of activities to do, and it is a beautiful city just to live in. I also live in the Inner Sunset neighborhood near the golden gate park and do not experience seeing lots of homeless people around me so thats probably why I feel favorably about how SF feels.
One of my favorite places is Lands end and golden gate park. There are always activities going on in the park and it is just really nice to be able to access such a beautiful place easily by bike. I like that there are large concerts in golden gate park, night life experiences at the museums in the park, and large open spaces for family gatherings.
/10
Population: 67,500
Median Age: 25.8
Married households: 40.9%
Households with kids: 23.9%
More on Davis: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Davis formerly Davisville is a city in the U.S. state of California and the most populous city in Yolo County. It had a population of 65,622 in 2010, not including the on-campus population of the University of California, Davis, which was over 9,400 in 2016. The city is a suburb of California’s capital, Sacramento.
/10
Population: 46,997
Median Age: 26.5
Married households: 30.9%
Households with kids: 16.8%
More on San Luis Obispo: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
San Luis Obispo, or SLO for short, is a city in the U.S. state of California, located roughly midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco on the Central Coast. The population was 45,119 at the 2010 census. The population of San Luis Obispo County was 269,637 in 2010.
/10
Population: 91,443
Median Age: 37.9
Married households: 39.5%
Households with kids: 21.7%
More on Santa Barbara: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County in the U.S. state of California. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara’s climate is often described as Mediterranean, and the city has been promoted as the “American Riviera”. As of 2014, the city had an estimated population of 91,196, up from 88,410 in 2010, making it the second most populous city in the county after Santa Maria while the contiguous urban area, which includes the cities of Goleta and Carpinteria, along with the unincorporated regions of Isla Vista, Montecito, Mission Canyon, Hope Ranch, Summerland, and others, has an approximate population of 220,000. The population of the entire county in 2010 was 423,895.
You haven’t lived until you’ve lived in Santa Barbara. The beach is minutes from everything, people are diverse and friendly, and the food options are numerous. This is a great place to live or visit and to raise a family.
Home prices are through the roof, but that is the same all over the state. One of our favorite activities is the art walk which takes place on the beach each weekend. Locals sell goods all along the pathway, it’s a great experience to shop at.
/10
Population: 30,720
Median Age: 33.7
Married households: 44.3%
Households with kids: 35.7%
More on San Pablo: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
San Pablo is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city of Richmond surrounds nearly the whole city. The population was 29,139 at the 2010 census. The current Mayor is Cecilia Valdez. Current Council members include Paul Morris and Rich Kinney.
/10
Population: 87,425
Median Age: 33.0
Married households: 36.1%
Households with kids: 35.4%
More on Hawthorne: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data
Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 in 2000. In 2013, the population was 86,199.
There You Have It – The Best Cities for Singles in California for 2019
If you’re looking for a breakdown of cities in California ranked by criteria that most would agree make a place a great spot for finding a single person (and potentially love), this is an accurate list.
Here’s a look at the most boring cities in California according to the data:
- Lafayette
- Moraga
- Orinda
For more California reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In California
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In California
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In California
- 10 Safest Places In California