When it comes to being a good place for dating, Arkansans have a long way to go to rise up among the list of most romantic places in the country.

Using data from Google Trends, Statista, and Forbes Business, BetArkansas.com took a break from Arkansas sports betting and created a way to rank states for dating metrics. BetArkansas.com used Statista to find the percentage of single-person households in each state, Google Trends for the average search volumes of “date ideas,” “first date activities near me,” and “florists near me” by state, and Forbes Business for data on the average annual income for a single person in each state to create the Dating Index.

Best and Worst States For Dating

Rank	State	Dating Index (51 max)
1	DC	48.33
2	ND	40.67
3	RI	37.70
4	WY	37.67
5	AL	36.33
6	OH	34.67
7	NY	33.33
8	NE	32.67
9	IL	32.33
10	MN	32.25
11	PA	32
12	VT	31.70
13	MI	31.67
14	ME	31.33
15	MA	29.33
16	NH	29.25
17	DE	29.15
18	MO	29.67
19	WV	28.33
20	AL	28.50
21	SD	28.33
22	HI	27.67
23	MD	27.33
24	OK	26.33
25	WI	26
26	CT	25.67
27	AZ	25
28	VA	24.70
29	MT	24.67
30	NC	24.33
T31	NM	24
T31	LA	24
33	WA	23.75
34	CO	23.67
35	KS	23.33
36	TN	22.67
37	UT	22
38	NJ	21.67
39	AR	21
40	GA	20.67
41	IA	19
42	ID	18.67
43	CA	18.50
44	OR	18.33
45	TX	18
46	FL	17.33
47	MS	17
48	IN	14.67
49	SC	12.67
50	KY	12.33
51	NV	11.67

Arkansas Ranks in the Bottom Third

After crunching those numbers, Arkansas ranks No. 39 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The biggest thing dragging down the Natural State is coming in at No. 49 nationally with an average salary of $48,570 per year. Washington, D.C., ranks No. 1 followed by North Dakota and Rhode Island. At least Arkansas doesn’t rank among the worst with Nevada and Kentucky coming in last and next to last.

This also fits with a 2022 study conducted by WalletHub that ranked Arkansas as the second-worst state for dating behind West Virginia. The WalletHub study based some of its findings on how more people were forced to turn to online dating than ever before because of the pandemic. Arkansas has some of the fewest online and mobile dating connections, and it’s also a state that ranks high on crime rates, according to the study.

That study ranked California, New York, Florida and Texas as the best states for dating, which varies widely with our rankings. At least the state has Arkansas sports betting promos unlike California and Texas. Some of the Google Trends data shows those in the Fayetteville metro area are seeking “date ideas,” as the area ranks the highest in Arkansas for that online search. Pine Bluff’s metro area ranks No. 2 in the state for such searches.

Author

Douglas Pils

@DouglasPils

Douglas Pils has been a sports journalist for 30 years in Texas, Arkansas and New York having worked for the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News and Newsday. He most recently ran the Student Media Department at Texas A&M for eight years.

Arkansas Ranks Among the Worst States For Dating

Best and Worst States For Dating

Arkansas Ranks in the Bottom Third