Get Some! NYC Ranked Best City for Singles

Looking for a hot date? You're in the right place.

New York City bumped Atlanta out of first place on Forbes.com's annual ranking of America's "Best Cities for Singles," marking the first time the Big Apple has claimed the top spot since the list debuted in 2001. Woo hoo!

Times have been tough for New Yorkers, thanks to a bad economy that's forced many to lose their jobs. Under financial duress, city dwellers are looking to find happiness in love – and many of them are using their severances to do it.

"Many of this metro area's finest unmarried folks – who make up 28 percent of the overall population – are taking advantage … and enjoying the spoils of the city – including its 35,000 restaurants, 3,800 bars and 734 museums – with dates they've found online," writes Forbes reporter Lauren Sherman.

An increase in online dating was the biggest factor in the rankings this year. New York City has more active members flitting about on dating site Match.com than any other place in the country, accounting for 8 percent of all active members on the site.

Rounding out the top five best cities for singles are Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, D.C. And if you're looking for love, we recommend you stay away from Jacksonville, Fla. That city ranks dead last on the list because it's expensive and has no cultural activity, Forbes says.

To generate the list, Forbes ranked 40 of the largest continental U.S. metropolitan statistical areas in seven different categories on a scale of 1 to 40: coolness, cost of living alone, culture, job growth, online dating participation, nightlife and the ratio of singles to the entire population of the metro area.  

The Big Apple was the only city to get No. 1 rankings in two categories – coolness and online dating.

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