A cross-section of the interests, hobbies and pastimes of singles across America
Helping shed light on the pursuits of singles across America, the PlenyOfPersonality Study has identified the top interests, hobbies and pastimes of singles in 11 major markets across the country, providing a better understanding of singles and their “types”.
Using an interest-based algorithm developed by PlentyOfFish’s Senior Data Scientist, the study examined over 10 million heterosexual singles over the age of 21 years old. To compile the data, the Research Team computed top interests appearing on users profiles into 20 personality archetypes, ranking each interest from high to low based on the frequency they appeared. The 20 archetypes of PlentyOfPersonality are each comprised of a unique subset of interests and hobbies specific to the group.
Personality Archetypes + Top Corresponding Interests
Artist – art, write, draw, paint, poetry, design, fashion
Bar Game Buff – play, bowl, movie, pool, shoot
Cultured Urbanite – travel, wine, dine, concert, explore, museum
Curious George – people, laugh, learn, interest, meet, smile, adventure, joke
Eternal Optimist – love, life, enjoy, open, happiness
Family First – family, friend, time, hang, kid
Fast and Furious – fast, classic, tattoo, ring, auto
Happy-Go Lucky – people, laugh, learn, interest, meet, smile, adventure
Health Buff – yoga, cook, lift, healthy, exercise
Intellectual – history, nature, science, politics, culture, world
Live Event Fan – concert, comedy, show, festival
Mainly Mainstream – movie, sport, music, relax, cook, work
Pinteresters – dance, shop, craft, cook, puzzle
Romantic – beach, walk, cuddle, drive, quiet
Salt of the Earth – work, friend, sports, family, music
Social Butterfly – sport, active, travel, event, music
Sports Fanatic – football, basketball, baseball, hockey, UFC
Weekend Warrior – fun, drink, money, party, lol, chill, date
Well-Rounded – exercise, theatre, read, movies, foodie, vacation
Outdoor Adventurer – mountain, scuba, climb, boat, swim
The following provides a breakdown of the top single silos across the country:
Boston
Single women in Beantown epitomize the city’s scholastic pedigree with most falling into the Cultured Urbanite and Pinterester categories, while men are more aligned with the Boston’s historic roots, identifying as Weekend Warriors.
Chicago
Finding love in the Windy City may be easier said than done with the majority of men spending their time partying and watching sports, while single women prefer the finer things in life – however one thing Chicago singles can agree on is good food.
Detroit
No longer defined by recession, the percentage of Eternal Optimists is highest in Detroit, with nearly a quarter of singles landing in this category. The majority of Detroiters, however like to
blow off steam outside of 9-5 and are best categorized as Weekend Warriors.
Houston
With craft giant Michael’s headquartered in Texas, it’s no surprise that the great number of women Pinteresters are found in Huston. However, when the ladies are getting their craft on, men in this city are focused on socializing, with the greatest number considered Weekend Warriors.
Jacksonville
The only city in the study home to Romantics, 12% of single women in Jacksonville are enamoured by long walks on the beach and cuddling, which may make things tricky when finding a match, since most men in the city have more macho tendencies.
LA
Maintaining their position as the entertainment capital of the world, singles in LA love to party, have fun and make money – with most singles classified as Weekend Warriors. Also known as the land of the aspiring artist, a large percentage of singles fall into the Artist archetype, while close to year-round sunshine brings out the Eternal Optimist in a significant number. Both singlemen and women in LA share a passion for enjoying life and having a good time.
NYC
NYC singles may be a little sunnier than their all-black-wearing, sunglasses on, head down stereotype suggests. The majority are split between Eternal Optimists and Weekend Warriors. A larger percentage of single women compared to single men may however carry the brooding artist persona – with 18% and 15% identifying as Pinteresters and Artists respectively.
Phoenix
Singles in Phoenix are going on some very positive dates given Eternal Optimist ranks in the top
three Singles Silo for both men and women
San Fran
Unlike their Southern California counterparts, singles in San Francisco bond over Monet and Mozart rather than Moet and EDM with most identified as Artists and Intellectuals. 14% of both single men and women also consider yoga and lifting among their top interests.
Seattle
With great coffee, attractions, and activity, the most common archetype among singles in Seattle are Artists, Intellectuals, and Curious George. Additionally, single men and women here compliment each other well, since guys have an added streak of Outdoor Adventure, while single
ladies are more concerned with their health.
Washington
It’s not surprising that dates in Washington, DC are knowledgeable affairs with 13% of both men and women in town being Intellectuals.
1 comment
So it seems that, outside of the northwest and DC, the majority of singles are Weekend Warriors. Although, I have to suspect that the PoF psychographics are not entirely indicative of the singles in general. For example, when I was on PoF and “another dating site” in NYC, I found that PoF singles were very more mainstream and traditional (which your findings support), while the singles in the same city on Other Site were pretty much the opposite. So maybe the real moral of your story/analysis is: some singles would find a greater proportion of potential matches on PoF in certain cities than in others.