Major cities like DC, ATL, NYC, and Houston are often considered singles cities because there is a high ratio of young single people. There may be many factors that play into this, such as gender ratios between males versus females or racial makeups in these areas, and educated single black men in these cities like to play the field a bit. Also, career opportunities will attract more young, newly college grads with preferences for companionship over marriage. Some say the reason so many single individuals choose to pursue casual relationships instead of getting hitched comes down to budgeting: men traditionally pick up the tab during dates, while most ladies pay nothing. Many men have to decide whether to date or pay their rent.
We’ve seen clips on social media of women saying their men must pay for their entire birthday dinner bill plus buy them expensive gifts. Social media has so many of us with false expectations of real life.
Let’s do the numbers for a single man living in DC who makes $90,000 annually.
INCOME
$90,000 Annual Salary
$7,500 Gross Monthly
DEDUCTIONS
$1,698 Taxes
$574 FICA
$155 Insurance (Average employee contribution)
NET MONTHLY INCOME
$5073
MONTHLY SAVINGS/INVESTMENT (It’s recommended that we save/invest 20% of our monthly salary)
$1014
MONTHLY EXPENSES
$2349 Average one-bedroom rent in DC
$667 Average car note
$136 Average car insurance
$114 Average cell phone bill
$116 Average wifi/cable bill
$234 Average student loan payment
$225 Average food cost for a single person
TOTAL MONTHLY SPENDING
$4855
EQUATION
$5073 – $4855 = $218
How can a man seriously date when he only has $218 left after his monthly expenses, and the average date night now costs $226?
Are major cities really singles cities? It seems that, although there may be many factors at play, one of the biggest contributors to this phenomenon is economics. Do people really stay single because they can’t afford to date? Or is it something else entirely? What do you think about the singles scene in your city?
Let us know in the comments.