MEMPHIS is now under coverage.
Local dating, modeled. Every signal in Memphis, converted into a tactical roadmap.
Greater Memphis is open as a field office. The headline reads:
An estimated 267,000 Greater Memphis adults ages 22 to 50 are single.
A market-rate one-bedroom in Memphis asks about $895 a month, the cheapest of any city we cover and flat to slightly down.
The metro runs slightly female-leaning, about 49% men to 51% women among singles.
The balance isn't uniform across the metro: Whitehaven (60% women) and University District (53% women) are among its most female-leaning corners.
The shape of the market
- Singles, 22 to 50
267,222
- Gender balance
49%
Among Memphis couples, about 13% live together unmarried rather than married, roughly in line with the national 13%.
Whitehaven, the south-side neighborhood around Graceland, tilts strongly female at about 40% male.
Memphis is a female-leaning metro, about 49% male, with downtown (62%) and the suburb of Bartlett (58%) the male-skewed exceptions.
About 46% of Memphis households are couple households — married or living together — well below the national 54%; the rest are people living alone or with roommates.
How dating actually happens
Only about 14% of matches on curated apps like Hinge turn into a first date.
Roughly 1 in 10 partnered adults met their partner online, and the share climbs sharply for younger and LGB couples.
One in four matches never gets a reply.
53% of online daters say their overall experience has been positive.
The figures above are national benchmarks. In Memphis, date-spot density is thickest in Downtown, Broad Avenue, and Bartlett — the most reliable neighborhoods to take the dating offline.
Dating safety in Memphis
78% of active dating-app users report burnout: 80% of women (driven by message volume) and 74% of men (driven by a lack of responses).
60% of Americans support requiring a background check before someone can create a dating profile.
An estimated 26% of men have received unsolicited explicit content, far below the rate for women.
56% of women under 50 have been sent unsolicited explicit images while dating online.
48% of online daters have faced at least one form of harassing behavior on a dating platform.
43% of women under 50 say a match kept contacting them after they said no.
52% of online daters say a scammer or bot has contacted them.
63% of men under 50 say a scammer or bot has contacted them, the highest of any group.
11% of women under 50 have been physically threatened on a dating platform.
40% of daters say platforms do a bad job removing fake and bot accounts; only 20% say they do well.
These are national safety benchmarks. The practical local move is the same everywhere — meet first in a busy, public place; in Memphis the highest-traffic date districts are Downtown, Broad Avenue, and Bartlett.
The LGBTQ+ landscape
53% of LGB adults have used a dating app, far more than straight adults.
About 24% of LGB couples met online, roughly three times the straight rate.
About 70% of LGB adults under 30 have used a dating app, the highest-adoption cohort anywhere.
7.6% of U.S. adults now identify as LGBTQ+, up from 3.5% in 2012.
22.3% of adults aged 18 to 34 identify as LGBTQ+.
Political alignment
24% of Americans say they could never date someone who disagrees with them on abortion.
Tennessee does not register voters by party; as a 2024 proxy, Shelby County voted about 62% Harris to 36% Trump.
Memphis’s Shelby County, a majority-Black county, is a strongly Democratic island in deep-red Tennessee, a state Trump carried by about 30 points.
47% of single daters would not seriously date a Trump voter; among Democratic women that rises to 79%.
69% of Americans would not date someone who is unemployed, rising to 81% of women.
The cost of dating
- Median income
$37,698
- 1-bedroom rent
$895
A single adult in Shelby County needs about $43,200 a year just to cover the basics.
Memphis has the cheapest one-bedroom rents of any city we cover, under $900 and flat to slightly down, in a soft Southern market.
Americans reported $1.3 billion in romance-scam losses in a single year, a tax on every crowded market.
A MATA fare is normally $1.00, among the cheapest in the country, and is currently waived under a zero-fare pilot.
Neighborhood intelligence
| Bartlett | 12,050 | 58 / 42 | $37,651 | $1,198 |
| University District | 11,278 | 47 / 53 | $30,540 | $1,155 |
| Whitehaven | 10,482 | 40 / 60 | $28,809 | $1,059 |
| Cordova | 9,646 | 50 / 50 | $44,180 | $1,595 |
| Midtown | 7,845 | 52 / 48 | $42,905 | $1,112 |
| Downtown | 6,071 | 62 / 38 | $58,573 | $1,661 |
| South Memphis | 5,305 | 49 / 51 | $25,055 | $952 |
| East Memphis | 4,373 | 54 / 46 | $51,698 | $1,457 |
| Broad Avenue | 4,093 | 50 / 50 | $28,543 | $985 |
| Germantown | 1,451 | 56 / 44 | $65,595 | $1,726 |
| Collierville | — | — | $64,314 | $1,609 |
| Cooper-Young | — | — | $42,905 | $1,112 |
| Mud Island | — | — | $58,573 | $1,661 |
| Olive Branch | — | — | $49,140 | $1,829 |
| Southaven | — | — | $36,466 | $1,400 |
| Vollintine-Evergreen | — | — | $28,543 | $985 |
Local date spots
- DowntownActivity
National Civil Rights Museum
Wheelchair access - DowntownActivity
B.B. King's Blues Club
Good for groupsWheelchair access - East MemphisCafés
Gibson's Donuts
Wheelchair access - BartlettActivity
Main Event Memphis
Good for groupsWheelchair access - Broad AvenueDining
Texas de Brazil - Memphis
- DowntownActivity
Tom Lee Park
Wheelchair access - MidtownActivity
Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Wheelchair access - MidtownDining
Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar
- East MemphisActivity
Memphis Botanic Garden
Wheelchair access - Cooper-YoungActivity
Children's Museum of Memphis
Wheelchair access - BartlettDining
Firebirds Wood Fired Grill
- WhitehavenDining
Seasons 52
- GermantownDining
Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill
- Broad AvenueDining
The Majestic Grille
- Broad AvenueDrinks
Buster's Liquors & Wines | University
- University DistrictDining
Char Restaurant
- DowntownActivity
Rum Boogie Cafe
Outdoor seatingGood for groups - Cooper-YoungDrinks
Young Avenue Deli
Outdoor seatingGood for groups - WhitehavenDining
Coastal Fish Company
- BartlettActivity
Escapology Escape Rooms Memphis
Wheelchair access - Broad AvenueDining
Esco Memphis Restaurant & Tapas
- DowntownDrinks
Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
- Broad AvenueActivity
Lafayette's Music Room
Wheelchair access - BartlettActivity
Lucky Strike Bartlett
LGBTQ+ friendlyWheelchair access - CordovaDining
The Butcher Shop Steakhouse
- East MemphisDining
Amerigo Italian Restaurant
- Broad AvenueDrinks
Bardog Tavern
- BartlettActivity
Putt-Putt Golf & Games
Wheelchair access - Mud IslandDining
The Lookout
Good for groups - Olive BranchDining
Owen Brennan's Restaurant
Outdoor seatingLGBTQ+ friendly - WhitehavenDining
Owen Brennan's Restaurant
- WhitehavenDining
Prive
- DowntownDining
Sage Restaurant
- Cooper-YoungDining
Folk's Folly Prime Steak House
Good for groupsWheelchair access - University DistrictDining
Folk's Folly Prime Steak House
- GermantownDining
Moondance Grill
- CordovaDrinks
Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
- Mud IslandDrinks
Loflin Yard
Outdoor seatingLGBTQ+ friendly - DowntownActivity
Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum
Wheelchair access - GermantownDining
Southern Social
- Broad AvenueDining
Boscos Squared
- CordovaDining
Tannoor Grill middle eastern & Brazilian Steakhouse - Cordova
- DowntownDrinks
Tin Roof
Outdoor seatingGood for groups - Broad AvenueActivity
Minglewood Hall
Wheelchair access - BartlettDining
Side Porch Steakhouse
- Cooper-YoungDining
The Beauty Shop
Outdoor seatingLGBTQ+ friendly - ColliervilleDining
Tony's Trophy Room
Outdoor seatingGood for groups - East MemphisDining
Hog & Hominy
- MidtownDining
Porch and Parlor
- MidtownDining
Itta Bena
- Vollintine-EvergreenActivity
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Wheelchair access - ColliervilleDrinks
The Skybox Grill
Good for groupsWheelchair access - GermantownDrinks
Wolf River Brisket Co.
- East MemphisDrinks
Bog & Barley Irish Pub
- WhitehavenActivity
Billy Hardwick's All Star Lanes
Wheelchair access - University DistrictDining
One11Madison
- ColliervilleDining
Jim's Place Grille
Good for groupsWheelchair access - DowntownDining
Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis
- GermantownDining
Forest Hill Grill
- Cooper-YoungCafés
Otherlands Coffee Bar
Outdoor seatingGood for groups