RALEIGH is now under coverage.
Local dating, modeled. Every signal in Raleigh, converted into a tactical roadmap.
Greater Raleigh is open as a field office. The headline numbers, each sourced and confidence-flagged:
- $1,233 per month Zumper Rent Research, June 2026
- $50,197 per year Census ACS 5-yr, 2019–2023
- 52% Census ACS 5-yr, 2019–2023
By the numbers
11 sourced, confidence-flagged metrics for Raleigh — gender, money, neighborhoods, and political lean. The deep dive, with charts, is in the console below.
- Singles, 22 to 50
253,483
- Gender balance
52%
- Male skew
52%
- Median income
$50,197
- 1-bedroom rent
$1,233
- Living wage
$55,245
- Transit fare
$1
- Rent trend
$1,233
- Most female-leaning zone
35%
- Unaffiliated
45%
- Democratic
34%
The shape of the market
Cameron Village, by NC State, tilts sharply female (about 35% male), with Five Points and Morrisville close behind.
Raleigh runs about 52% male, sharpest in North Hills (57%) and downtown (56%).
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.
Dating safety in Raleigh
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.
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.
Among those who pick a side, Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two to one (34% to 21%) in this fast-growing, tech-driven Research Triangle county.
47% of single daters would not seriously date a Trump voter; among Democratic women that rises to 79%.
North Carolina registers voters by party, and in Wake County unaffiliated voters are the largest bloc by far at about 45%, the sharpest expression of North Carolina’s independent plurality.
69% of Americans would not date someone who is unemployed, rising to 81% of women.
The cost of dating
A single adult in Wake County needs about $55,200 a year just to cover the basics.
Raleigh is building apartments at a record Research Triangle pace, and the new supply has kept one-bedroom rents flat-to-down even as the tech population grows.
Americans reported $1.3 billion in romance-scam losses in a single year, a tax on every crowded market.
A GoRaleigh fare is $1.25 one way on local buses (fare collection resumed in 2024 after a free-ride period).
Neighborhood intelligence
| Neighborhood | Singles | M / F | Income | 1BR rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakwood | 10,675 | 47 / 53 | $41,321 | $1,480 |
| Morrisville | 9,102 | 48 / 52 | $70,899 | $1,840 |
| North Hills | 8,134 | 57 / 43 | $52,218 | $1,474 |
| Brier Creek | 5,714 | 52 / 48 | $65,827 | $1,736 |
| Cary | 5,140 | 55 / 45 | $51,196 | $1,515 |
| Apex | 4,771 | 54 / 46 | $71,903 | $1,909 |
| Downtown | 3,978 | 56 / 44 | $45,925 | $1,550 |
| North Raleigh | 3,525 | 50 / 50 | $59,768 | $1,647 |
| Cameron Village | 3,106 | 35 / 65 | $45,458 | $1,668 |
| Five Points | 1,425 | 43 / 57 | $96,059 | $1,878 |
Local date spots
Real venues across Raleigh, scraped from Google Maps and filterable by neighborhood. Ratings and review counts are live Google data — never paid placement.
- Brier Creek
Angus Barn
- Brier Creek
Carolina Ale House - Brier Creek
- Oakwood
Taverna Agora
- Cary
Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen
- Brier Creek
Bar Louie - Brier Creek
- North Hills
Yard House
- North Raleigh
La Buena Vida - Raleigh
- Cameron Village
Whiskey Kitchen
- North Hills
Firebirds Wood Fired Grill
- Brier Creek
Epic Chophouse Raleigh
- North Raleigh
STIR
- Apex
Lime & Lemon Indian Grill & Bar - Apex
- Brier Creek
Seasons 52
- Apex
Daniel's Restaurant & Catering
- Cary
Lugano Ristorante
- North Raleigh
Winston's Grille
- North Hills
The Capital Grille
- Downtown
Vidrio
- Apex
Carrabba's Italian Grill
- Morrisville
Firebirds Wood Fired Grill
- Downtown
Second Empire Restaurant and Tavern
- Downtown
Barcelona Wine Bar
- Morrisville
Babymoon Cafe
- North Hills
Coquette
- North Raleigh
Melting Pot
- Downtown
Mulino Italian Kitchen & Bar
- Downtown
Watts & Ward
- Apex
JD's Tavern
- Morrisville
Chophouse
- Apex
Salem Street Pub