Being single is awesome; you have your independence to do absolutely whatever the fuck you want. Being single sucks; you can get lonely because you have no one to share memories, experiences, bills and rent with. When you’re single you’re always trying to impress people which means buying new clothes, going to the gym on the regular and taking lucky ladies on expensive dates to pretend that you live that extravagant lifestyle every single day. When you’re in a relationship, you might rock your JNCO jeans from 1998 with a white t-shirt that has two pizza sauce stains and three holes because it doesn’t fucking matter. Being single can be EXPENSIVE! But there are certain cities where being single can bankrupt a person.
The fine folks over at GOBankingRates put together a list of the most expensive cities for singles. They analyzed costs from across 89 U.S. cities that a typical single individual would encounter. They took into consideration expenses such as clothing, date nights, monthly gym memberships and rent per square foot.
They discovered that if you live in Washington D.C., you should definitely take the Netflix and chill approach because it costs on average a whopping $166 to go on a date. Forget getting a new wardrobe in Honolulu because that’s where its the most pricey, with an outfit costing $80.
The 15 Most Expensive Cities For Singles:
Madison rounds out this list at No. 15. This city has high costs in all four categories assessed in this survey, but its clothing price puts the city in the top 20 for that category, and the city comes in at No. 9 for average date cost. A date in Madison costs around $132, while an average wardrobe staple will set a single shopper back $69.
14. Oakland, California
At No. 14, Oakland offers a slightly more balanced cost of living for a single lifestyle. Its average clothing cost is actually lower than the median. But a high average rent price of $1.94 per square foot will easily offset those savings. Gym and date expenses are also high in Oakland.
13. San Diego, California
San Diego singles pay a high premium to live in Southern California. San Diego has costs above the median in every category in this study, with its average clothing and rent prices both coming in at No. 13 in the nation.
12. Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles’ high average rent price of $1.87 per square foot is the biggest factor that pushed it to No. 12 among the most expensive cities for singles. The other costs affecting singles in L.A. are also higher than in most other cities, with expenses priced well above the median of the cities surveyed.
11. Irvine, California
Yet another California city to land on the list, Irvine has high date and rent costs. At $137, the average cost of a date in Irvine is the fifth-highest in the study. Irvine’s average rent is $1.80 per square foot, which is pricey enough to put it among the 15 highest rent costs in this survey.
10. Seattle, Washington
Coming in as the 10th-most expensive city for singles, Seattle’s high average clothing cost is the factor that works against it the most. The $77 average cost of a clothing staple in Seattle is the fifth-highest in the survey. The cost of a date is also fairly high ($131), and gym costs and rent are both on the more expensive end as well.
9. Miami, Florida
The costliest factor that puts Miami among the most expensive cities for singles is the rent, which at $1.95 per square foot is the sixth-highest of the 89 cities surveyed. Date and gym costs are also on the higher end, but the average clothing price is closer to the median cost in the study.
8. Anchorage, Alaska
The gym costs in Anchorage tie with Glendale’s for third-highest in the study at $68 a month. Higher rent costs ($1.43 per square foot) and steep dating expenses ($122) also work against singles in the city, making Anchorage one of the most expensive cities for this demographic.
7. Glendale, California
Like the other California cities on this list, Glendale has expensive rent at $1.87 per square foot. The highest cost factor for this city, however, is the average monthly gym membership, which comes in at $68 per month and is the third-highest behind New York City and Washington, D.C.
6. Fremont, California
While Fremont falls on the more expensive end of most of the categories in this study, the excessive cost of a date is what puts Fremont among the most expensive cities for singles. The $161 price tag of a date is the second-highest of any city surveyed; only Washington’s date costs are higher. The other expense that puts Fremont at No. 6 on this list is its costly rent, which at $1.94 per square foot is among the 10 most expensive — even higher than New York City.
5. Boston, Massachusetts
Single Bostonians might struggle with high rent, which at $2.33 per square foot is the third-highest of any city surveyed. Gym memberships in Boston are also pretty steep; the $63 monthly cost ranks among the 10 highest. These high costs, along with steeper prices on clothing and dating activities, earned Boston the No. 5 spot on this list of the most expensive cities for singles.
4. Honolulu, Hawaii
For singles in Honolulu, the highest lifestyle-related costs are clothing and housing. Honolulu’s average rent cost, which is $2.60 per square foot, is the second-highest of any in the study. The average $80 cost of a clothing staple in the city is the fourth-highest. The price of a date in Honolulu is slightly lower than in other high-priced cities at $134, but this cost is among the study’s 10 highest for date nights.
3. Washington D.C.
Clothing costs are fairly average in Washington, but among the categories included in this study, that is the only reasonably priced factor for singles in Washington. The city’s $70 average gym membership is the second-highest of the 89 cities included in the study, and its $2.12 per-square-foot rent cost is the fourth-highest. It’s the huge cost of a date that hurts Washington singles the most, however: The $166 cost is more than 50 percent higher than the median of $109.
2. New York City, New York
New York also has high prices across all categories, with its gym memberships costing the most of any city at $90 per month — $20 more than the next-highest cost of $70 a month in Washington. Clothing costs are also second-highest in the nation, with the average clothing staple priced at $82 in New York. A date night in the Big Apple is the fourth-most expensive at $145.
1. San Francisco, California
San Francisco is notoriously pricey, so it’s no surprise that it is the No. 1 most expensive city for singles. San Francisco has high costs across all categories but scores the worst for rent: At $3.36 per square foot, it’s 30 percent more expensive than the next-highest rent price of $2.60 in Honolulu, and over three times the median cost of $0.91 per square foot. The cost of a date in this city is also the third-highest in the study at $147, compared with the median cost of around $109.
If you’re looking to take experience a more frugal single lifestyle, go southwest young man. You’ll get the most bang for your buck in Reno, Nevada followed by Tucson, Arizona.