It’s not you, it’s Pembroke Pines. Why city ranks among top 10 worst for singles
To all Pembroke Pines singles looking for love, we’ve got some heartbreaking news for you: Romance may not be in the cards for you anytime soon.
We promise it’s not you, it’s all of us — or rather it’s the city, which has raked in a grim ranking as one of the top 10 worst cities for singles in America, according to a study by WalletHub.
The report, released by the Miami-based personal finance company on Dec. 2, compared how 182 cities across the United States stacked up in three major categories it says influence romantic success: economics, fun and recreation, and dating opportunities.
Where did Pembroke Pines place? Sixth from last at No. 176.
To rank the city, the three categories were broken down into 35 dating-related metrics with varying weights, graded on a 100-point scale, and averaged to calculate an overall score.
For economics, worth 25 points, that looked like crunching food, drink, beauty and mortagage costs. Fun and recreation, also valued at 25 points, required quanitifying data such as coffee shops, nightclubs, shopping malls and fitness centers per capita as well as a city’s weather and walkability.
Dating opportunities — the 50-point category Pines fared worst in — calculated the share of a region’s single population, its singles gender balance, online dating opportunities, mobile dating opportunities and even how often “Tinder” appeared on residents’ search histories.
If you’re wondering exactly how the city compared, it scored a 41.95 out of 100, and ranked 106th for economics, 124th in fun and recreation, and 170th for dating opportunities.
Feeling discouraged by these bleak numbers? Here’s some context for Pembroke Pines’ predicament.
The city — famous for drawing starter families and retirees to its calm suburbs — lacks available singles to mingle with.
Around 50% of men and 43% of women are already married, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, leaving a mixed bag of those widowed, divorced, separated or never married to choose from. Those 65 and up form over 20% of the population and the same goes for those under 18.
Dr. Daisy Monterroso, a Broward-based therapist who specializes in marriage, families and relationships, adds that the city’s hardworking, high-achieving culture narrows the dating pool for most.
“These are educated, middle- to high-class individuals who want more for themselves and their families. Many refuse to settle for toxic dating patterns, yet balancing that desire for meaningful connection with the reality of modern life can be difficult,” she told the Pembroke Pines News on Dec. 2. “People move in and out of the area, commute long distances, work demanding schedules, or juggle multiple jobs.”
Pembroke Pines residents are also dealing with weighty mortgages that could hurt their chances of landing a beau, with the Journal of Consumer Research dubbing the city the sixth-most house-poor area in October.
Then there’s the “swipe left, swipe right” dilemma of online dating. Though WalletHub correlates more access to apps with better odds, Monterroso says it can lead to miserable courting conditions if not handled with care.
“I hear so many residents talk about situationships, ghosting, or feeling burned out from dating apps. Dating app fatigue is real,” she said. “People want connection but feel stuck. ... In a family-oriented city like Pembroke Pines, it’s even harder to find others who are still actively looking.”
It could be worse, according to the study. You could live in Port St. Lucie or Hialeah, the only two South Florida cities that placed below Pembroke Pines, the former at No. 178 and the latter at 179.
To expand your horizons, WalletHub says you could fare better in Atlanta or Las Vegas, the top two metropolises for finding romance.
That too far? Consider these Florida cities the company ranked luckier in love than Pembroke Pines: Tampa (3), Orlando (8), Miami (11), Fort Lauderdale (51), Tallahassee (62), St. Petersburg (100), Jacksonville (132) and Cape Coral (151).
And per the doctor’s orders, take every statistic with a grain of salt.
“A city may rank well for singles, yet still have a dating culture where people casually betray one another, keep one foot in the dating apps, or avoid commitment altogether,” Monterroso said. “So even if Broward or Pembroke Pines rates well or not on paper, it doesn’t tell you whether the singles in that area are prepared to build secure and lasting relationships.”
