With Valentine's Day on the horizon, many of those without a significant other may feel left out of the festivities. As couples plan dinners or special dates, single people plan intimate time with a bottle of wine, or perhaps other dateless friends.
The holiday may make single people feel as if they are the only ones without plans, or that they have become suddenly surrounded by communities of married couples. But there are some places where the population has actually become more single over time.
MooseRoots looked at data from the The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) and the Census Bureau to find 25 cities with the largest percent change in single population between the years 1970 and 2014. Only cities with more than 250,000 inhabitants are included.
"Single," or "Never married" in the census includes those who've never entered a marriage and those whose first marriage was annulled. These statistics only consider the population aged 15 and older. A tie between cities is broken by favoring the city whose single population is larger in 2014.
#25. Tulsa, OK
Population 395,599
Percent single in 1970: 20.3%
Percent single in 2014: 33.3%
Percent change: 64%
#24. Houston, TX
Population 2,167,988
Percent single in 1970: 23.9%
Percent single in 2014: 39.6%
Percent change: 65.7%
#23. New Orleans, LA
Population 368,471
Percent single in 1970: 28.9%
Percent single in 2014: 48.5%
Percent change: 67.8%
#21. Los Angeles, CA
Population 3,862,210
Percent single in 1970: 27%
Percent single in 2014: 45.5%
Percent change: 68.5%
#22. Buffalo, NY
Population 259,959
Percent single in 1970: 30.2%
Percent single in 2014: 50.9%
Percent change: 68.5%
#20. Oakland, CA
Population 402,339
Percent single in 1970: 26.3%
Percent single in 2014: 44.4%
Percent change: 68.8%
#19. Toledo, OH
Population 283,932
Percent single in 1970: 24.5%
Percent single in 2014: 41.5%
Percent change: 69.4%
#18. Miami, FL
Population 416,432
Percent single in 1970: 23.9%
Percent single in 2014: 40.7%
Percent change: 70.3%
#17. Chicago, IL
Population 2,712,608
Percent single in 1970: 28.5%
Percent single in 2014: 48.6%
Percent change: 70.5%
#16. Phoenix, AZ
Population 1,490,758
Percent single in 1970: 22.6%
Percent single in 2014: 38.6%
Percent change: 70.8%
#15. Sacramento, CA
Population 476,075
Percent single in 1970: 23.5%
Percent single in 2014: 40.3%
Percent change: 71.5%
#14. Newark, NJ
Population 278,750
Percent single in 1970: 30.7%
Percent single in 2014: 53.6%
Percent change: 74.6%
#13. Memphis, TN
Population 656,715
Percent single in 1970: 25.2%
Percent single in 2014: 45.1%
Percent change: 79%
#12. Philadelphia, PA
Population 1,546,920
Percent single in 1970: 28.8%
Percent single in 2014: 51.6%
Percent change: 79.2%
#11. Milwaukee, WI
Population 598,078
Percent single in 1970: 28.6%
Percent single in 2014: 51.4%
Percent change: 79.7%
#10. St. Louis, MO
Population 318,727
Percent single in 1970: 27.4%
Percent single in 2014: 49.4%
Percent change: 80.3%
#9. Dallas, TX
Population 1,240,985
Percent single in 1970: 22.6%
Percent single in 2014: 40.8%
Percent change: 80.5%
#8. Cleveland, OH
Population 392,114
Percent single in 1970: 27.1%
Percent single in 2014: 49.3%
Percent change: 81.9%
#7. Cincinnati, OH
Population 297,117
Percent single in 1970: 28.1%
Percent single in 2014: 51.3%
Percent change: 82.6%
#6. Baltimore, MD
Population 622,271
Percent single in 1970: 28.3%
Percent single in 2014: 51.8%
Percent change: 83%
#5. Santa Ana, CA
Population 331,266
Percent single in 1970: 22.4%
Percent single in 2014: 42%
Percent change: 87.5%
#4. Tampa, FL
Population 348,934
Percent single in 1970: 22%
Percent single in 2014: 41.6%
Percent change: 89.1%
#3. Atlanta, GA
Population 440641
Percent single in 1970: 28%
Percent single in 2014: 53.7%
Percent change: 91.8%
#2. Long Beach, CA
Population 468,594
Percent single in 1970: 23.4%
Percent single in 2014: 44.9%
Percent change: 91.9%
#1. Detroit, MI
Population 695,437
Percent single in 1970: 26.9%
Percent single in 2014: 53.7%
Percent change: 99.6%
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