Is Absolutely Anywhere In Iowa Among The Best Cities For Singles In 2026?

If you're single, the problem may not necessarily be you.

No matter where in America you're at, the dating world is a dumpster fire on a street covered with more potholes than Davenport roads, and you're driving right into it.

You often see stats that show millennials and Gen X are getting married and having kids later in life. There's a reason for that. Dating these days really is that miserable.

WalletHub looked at the Best Cities For Singles in 2026 so how bad did it really get for Iowa and the Midwest? Because our dates are looking like Olive Garden and Chili's, not like this:

To come up with the list, WalletHub looked at 3 main categories:

• Economics
  • Restaurant Meal Costs
  • Average Beer & Wine Price
  • Average Cocktail Price
  • Average Cost of Two-Person Meal
  • Movie Costs
  • Average Price for 2 Tickets to the Theater
  • Taxi Fare Costs
  • Beauty Salon Costs
  • Haircut Costs
  • Average Price per Party Ticket
  • Average Monthly Fitness Club Fee
  • Median Annual Household Income
  • Housing Affordability
  • Job Growth Rate
  • Unemployment Rate
  • Sharecare’s Community Well-Being Index Score
• Fun & Recreation
  • Number of Attractions
  • Restaurants per Capita
  • Coffee & Tea Shops per Capita
  • Parks per Capita
  • Nightlife Options per Capita
  • Shopping Centers per Capita
  • Wellness Centers & Spas per Capita
  • Fitness Centers per Capita
  • Social Clubs per Capita
  • Presence of Music Festivals
  • City Accessibility
  • Walkability
  • Weather
  • Safety
• Dating Opportunities
  • Share of Single Population
  • Singles Gender Balance
  • Online Dating Opportunities
  • Mobile Dating Opportunities
  • Google Search Traffic for the term "Tinder"

How Bad Is It Here Actually?

The highest the Midwest ranked on the list was Madison, Wisconsin at #13. Ohio has 3 cities in the top 30: Cincinnati is #16, Columbus and Cleveland are #28 and #29, respectively. Chicago is #22.

Meanwhile, the highest-ranking Iowa city on the list is Des Moines at #55. The only other Iowa metro on the list is Cedar Rapids at #92.

Nowhere in the Quad Cities is in the top 182 cities for singles. Wow what a surprise.

The top 5 cities for singles, in case you're thinking of moving, are Atlanta, Las Vegas, Tampa, Seattle, and Denver. If you're not thinking of moving and will continue to (try to) date locally, best of luck to you.