The Top 25 Cities for Millennials and Gen Z to Actually Meet IRL in 2026

Are you lonesome tonight? If you’re a Millennial or Gen Z American, you’re, ironically, not alone. The number of young people reporting they have no close friends has increased 5X in recent decades. And more of us are living alone in addition to spending more time solo.

If you’re looking to do something about it, some places are better than others.

We looked at 99 U.S. cities to find those that offer more options for in-person interaction, third spaces to meet naturally, and the highest proportion of young singles. So whether you long for your very own ride-or-die crew or a love connection, consider heading to these offline winners.

Key Takeaways

• #1 Denver is best for beating the loneliness blues with a real human connection. It boasts the most per-capita places and spaces for mingling IRL.
• I-5 friendliness: 5 of the top 10 cities for meeting people lie along the West Coast corridor: Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
• Connect IRL in Boston, where the face-to-face culture is strongest. Dating and IRL hanging are popular, and walkability is high.
• Los Angeles is the go-to for young singles, combining a large Millennial and Gen Z population with high “never married” rates.
• New Orleans is for Millennials, while Gen Zers may find more compatriots in Boston.

Big Cities Win at IRL: More People, More IRL Opportunities

Navigating crowded sidewalks while feeling unseen and unknown can be the isolating reality of “making it” in a large metro.

Yet big cities rule the top 10 list of IRL havens for young people to connect. In our top 25-ranked cities, 17 are in the U.S.’s top-25 largest metros.

The U.S.’s 19th-largest metro, Denver, reigns above all of them, ranking #4 for its connection culture. And Denver triumphs at #1 in “place opportunity” with oodles of local spaces that help facilitate interaction. To seal the deal, you’re likely to meet other young people while checking out the gyms of run clubs in your new hood; Millennials make up 23.37% of the city’s population, more than all but two other American cities.

In short, the Mile High City’s got a trifecta of factors making it easier to put down roots IRL.

West Coast cities are overrepresented in providing social infrastructure that encourages neighbors to form deeper communities. With half the top-10 list’s winners, the Left Coast excels at interaction and creating space for natural meetings.

However, just San Francisco and Los Angeles post top-10 results when it comes to the third category: the number of young people living in them.

Even with Denver included, the Western advantage is not about being a youth magnet. It’s driven by consistently top-quarterile third-space scores: very high coffee density, similarly elite fun and recreation, and extreme adoption of speed dating and app-facilitated meetups, which together, drive the IRL connection and place opportunity scores through the roof.

Boston is the Best City for Scheduling Some Face Time

Boston leads the way in hooking up people in real life.

Though the town’s footprint, developed before the advent of the automobile, brings a respectable walk score to its ranking, its victory is mostly due to residents’ high access to “all the apps” that facilitate meetups. Companies like Thursday, Shuffle, Timeleft, and Datefaster all operate here (that’s only an option in 13 American cities). Moreover, Google Trends composite interest in traditional dating apps, like Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and others, is the highest in the country.

Seattle and San Francisco bring that same digital edge to the top ten, showing that belonging to a stereotypically online population doesn’t mean that IRL socializing falls by the wayside — sometimes, it’s enhanced. But beware, both cities are known for non-committal social cultures. Sure, meeting is simple. But want to hang out again, and you might be met with, “Sure, let’s plan something.” Whether it’s the “Seattle Freeze” or the Bay Area’s less icy version, the follow-through’s on you.

If you hate the idea of scheduling from your phone, head to Nashville or #11 Washington, D.C., where you’ll meet more neighbors strolling the perfect-score walkable streets.

Or try a city with high volunteer rates, like Salt Lake City, Denver, or Portland, to prove that the Mountain West’s individualist reputation is undeserved. So if hitting the apps isn’t your thing, get out there and build a tiny house for the community — and meet some new pals in the process.

Denver has the Most Spaces to Meet, Play, and Chill Together

Even when dinner-mixer apps and dog-walking bump-ins aren’t an option, cities can be adept at creating spaces where social interactions flourish. Denver’s the champion here, and only 4 of the 99 cities we surveyed are even within 10% of its score in this category.

Why is the Front Range city so far ahead of the competition, though it’s not #1 in any sub-category, from the number of run events, to Starbucks locations, gyms per capita, and even the rec leagues, amusement parks, and bowling alleys of WalletHub’s “Fun” index?

Well, for one, Denver’s fun score is solid — about 21% higher than the average city on our normalized scale. So, if you’re craving something like a food tour, you’re in the right place.

And you’ll need to get in shape for all that exploring, so it’s only fitting that Denver nabs the #2 score in gyms per capita in the country (Colorado Springs has more). It’s also ranked #7 for Starbucks locations, so after your workout, you can sip a latte and strike up a conversation with your neighbor (but you won’t beat Seattle for dominance in its hometown brew stations).

In general, the West dominates “places” while the South makes a showing, with Charleston, Austin, and Virginia Beach each offering standout recreation and entertainment.

Meanwhile, the Northeast lags behind. And that’s not because they run on Dunkin’ while we chose to rank Starby’s: the median West’s gym count per 100K residents is also high at 9.46, while in the Northeast, it’s 3.58. That’s 164% more opportunity for classes, clubs, or climbing. And the West is also best when it comes to fun and entertainment, a category that includes hiking trails and fishing holes — elevating it ~28% above the Northeast.

Los Angeles, Where America’s Young Singles Already Live

Consider moving to Los Angeles for a large portion of both Millennial and Gen Z residents, but in particular, unmarried residents from both generations.

These 10 cities of the top 25 rank highest on the share of Millennials and Gen Zs, and within those groups, the highest “unmarried” rates, which tends to translate to more people open to meeting.

When you’re looking for confidants to cruise through first jobs and relationship heartache with, being in the same stage of life helps. So it’s a big bonus when your new friends aren’t sleepless with babies or even enjoying their coupled-off-and-on-the-couch era.

While lots of places are bigger on young people, and others claim a larger share of unmarried people, LA is strong in both.

For example, take Provo, which is #1 in its Gen Z share (30.6% Gen Z), but dead last on demographics overall, with extremely low Millennial and Gen Z “never married” residents. Similarly, Austin wins on Millennial share, but won’t help you mingle with singles. Both cities show that you can be surrounded by young people, but that doesn’t mean they’re stepping out.

Winners are more likely to be big coastal metros like LA, San Francisco, and New York since they’re education and knowledge hubs with a steady inflow of young adults and later marriage norms.

But the top ten also features another archetype: Northeast and Rust Belt metros like Buffalo, Hartford, and Providence, where unmarried shares are high, regardless of grad city status. Their high “never married” spike may come from higher numbers of coastal and urban residents being happy to cohabitate, more likely LGBTQ+, or more interested in delaying marriage into their 20s.

Mingling Millennials Hit NOLA; Gen Z Check Out Boston

When you split the top 25 IRL cities by demographic opportunity, Millennials and Gen Z gravitate toward different places, even when many of the same big metros appear across both lists.

The clearest generational divide shows up in the cities that don’t overlap.

For Gen Z, college and early career still skew the landscape, pushing them toward places like Boston, San Jose, and Baltimore, where young, overwhelmingly “never married” residents are clustered around degrees and strong pipelines to the workplace.

For Millennials, nightlife hotspots supplant study spaces, elevating cities like New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Miami, where delayed marriage and career ladders are common. Further along in their careers, still-single Millennials entertain more variety in their moves, opting for lifestyle-driven, often higher-cost cities where social life extends well beyond work hours.

The Best Cities for Meeting People IRL are Those Where They’re Showing Up

If a city has tons of young singles, meeting people will be easy. Right?

Nope. There are plenty of locations teeming with Millennial and Gen Z residents. Single ones. But a city can have great “unmarried demographics” and still be a bad place to actually meet people if it lacks the IRL infrastructure to turn loners into friends.

Today, great cities for friendship and dating have more than demographics alone (in fact, place score and demographics are basically unrelated in our dataset).

They also cultivate an urban landscape that makes bumping into people again and again the norm. They’re devoted to supporting the kind of infrastructure that builds community, like walkability, parks, cafés, and volunteering networks.

Where can strangers become regulars? Where can newcomers go to feel like they matter to someone in the overwhelming crowd? These are the elements that catalyze connections and welcome young adults to the rest of their social lives.

Methodology

We looked at 99 of the U.S.’s largest cities across 3 categories:

IRL Connection Culture

Where people walk more, volunteer more, use dating apps (Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, OkCupid, and eHarmony), and can register for in-person meetups, including from commercial friending companies Thursday, Shuffle, Timeleft, and Datefaster. They have more opportunities to interact face-to-face. And their city’s culture comes to reflect that, creating a reality where friends meet new friends, introduce new friends to old friends, and ultimately, just mix more often.

IRL Places and Events

Are there spaces and events set up so newcomers can be part of a real-life community from day one? From running events to fun spots (including bowling alleys, tennis courts, basketball hoops, sports leagues, music venues, coffee shops, beaches, and more), to the number of Starbucks and gyms, this category doesn’t say anything about how bustling and friendly these venues are — just that their existence is step one for introverted new residents to find their footing.

Young and Unmarried

Using U.S. Census data, we identified the cities with the highest percentage of young singles. We looked for cities with the highest percentage of Millennials and Gen Z residents, and within those groups, those with the highest percentage of unmarried residents.

Here’s the rank and score for all cities included in the analysis (1/26/26):