How Does Charlotte Rank For Single Millennials?

Kind of good news Charlotte- we're right in the middle for the number of single millennials in the city. With over 72 million, millennials—people born between 1981 and 1996—are now the largest generation in the U.S. Millennials account for about 22% of the population. Millennials have shown a different  approach to marriage compared to older generations. In fact, the median age at first marriage has been increasing for decades. This means that the majority of millennials are actually not married. (And I breathe a sigh of relief as a fellow Charlotte single millenial). In fact, more than a third of millennials are neither married or even living with an unmarried partner, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau (as reported by Patch.com).

In 1950, the median age at first marriage was 20.3 for women and 22.8 for men. By 2020 that had increased to 28.1 for women and 30.5 for men. The result is that currently only about 44% of millennials are married, compared to 53% of Gen Xers, 61% of Baby Boomers, and a whopping 81% of Silents when they were similar ages.

This could be attributed to several factors. Many in the age demographic are worse off financially than their parents were at the same age. Likewise, millennials are saddled with student loan debt, and a large share graduated either during or shortly after the Great Recession. And while millennial employment recovered within a decade following the Great Recession, millennial earnings never did. Millennials also grew up during a period of record divorce rates, as such they might be consciously approaching marriage more cautiously than their parents did.

Whether uncommitted by choice or actively seeking to find the right partner, single millennials generally benefit from living in areas with other people their age, large single populations, healthy job markets, and plenty of food and entertainment options all of which Charlotte has. To find the best metropolitan areas for single millennials, researchers at Porch analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, creating a composite score based on the following factors:

Only the 150 largest metropolitan areas were included in the analysis. Metros were then ranked based on their final composite score.

The analysis found that millennials make up 22.1% of the Charlotte metro population. And in total, 35.4% of Charlotte millennials are single. Here is a summary of the data for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC metro area:

For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:

For more information, a detailed methodology, and complete results, you can find the original report on Porch’s website: https://porch.com/advice/best-cities-for-single-millennials