Oxford named top city for singles

Published 12:02 pm Monday, October 5, 2015

Nearly three in 10 U.S. households now have exactly one person in them. But not all cities are created equal for those looking to find someone — whether to marry or just to be single together.

With this in mind, Livability.com has named Oxford a Top 10 Best City for Singles, 2015. Oxford offers a high concentration of singles, lots of ways to meet new people, and plenty of options for that first, second or third date.

When choosing the best cities for singles, Livability started by looking at places where there are plenty of singles to choose from, looking at the percentage of unmarried people, the percentage of the population in prime marriageable age (20 to 34), and places where large percentages are living alone — all Census data. Esri then helped Livability find places where people are doing single-ish things. These cities tend to have higher-than-average rates of people who go to art galleries, bars, nightclubs and pool halls. They have more residents who are likely to dance, sing karaoke and go to romance movies. Livability subtracted points for places where people play a lot of computer games and added points for people using dating sites.

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Finally, editors added in a couple of measures to find places that are good for everyone, like demographic diversity and cost of living.

“Some people want to stay single. Some people don’t,” said Livability editor Matt Carmichael. “These cities are great for people who are single, as well as those looking to find someone not to be single with.”

Oxford is a place that has grown in diversity and offers a good amount of entertainment options and ways to meet new people. The city provides plenty of places for first dates, get-to-know-you lunches or romantic encounters, including the Historic Downtown Square. Bars and clubs offer music, drink selections and plenty of chances to catch someone’s interest. Sporting events at The University of Mississippi make great dates as well. Ole Miss also has a potential dating pool of more than 2,000 graduate students.