Here’s a secret that the romantic-industrial complex doesn’t want you to know — you don’t have to be coupled up to enjoy Valentine’s Day. In fact, we’d like to propose an entirely new holiday be celebrated instead: Singles Awareness Day.
Inspired by the admirably self-indulgent “Treat Yo’ Self Day” introduced by the television show Parks and Recreation, Singles Awareness Day is the perfect way for consciously uncoupled people to be their own valentine. So Trulia decided to dig into the data and find the best places for pampering and self-love. Using U.S. Census Bureau data, Yelp amenity data, and median rent from Trulia, we created the Treat Yo’ Self (T.Y.S.) Index. Is your city on the list of best places to love yourself on February 14?
The data does not lie: Californians know how to live well. The top five cities on the T.Y.S. Index are all in the Golden State. But all that good living comes at a price — each of these five cities is in pretty expensive real estate markets.
Homes for sale in San Francisco, CA, the number one city on the index for pampering and self-love, rank among the costliest in the country. Meanwhile the median monthly cost of an apartment for rent in San Jose, CA, third on the T.Y.S. Index, is a whopping $3,500. It stands to reason that California singletons who can afford to hire a personal shopper and indulge at a day spa can also afford the region’s pricey housing costs.
Where shouldn’t you move if you love being pampered? South Carolina. Both Greenville and Columbia scored the worst on the T.Y.S. Index.
What’s your favorite way to treat yo’ self on Valentine’s Day? Massages and fine wines, or buying yourself a glittering gemstone? Using the T.Y.S. Index, Trulia honed in on which places have the highest (and lowest) concentration of luxe amenities. Then we cross-referenced against the metro’s median rent to find out where you can have the best of both worlds: access to amenities with reasonable housing costs.
If you do love jewelry, better look for an apartment for rent in Austin, TX, which has 5.53 stores per 10,000 households. While San Francisco tops the list with 12.24 jewelry stores per 10,000 households, the median rent there will cost you a budget-breaking $4,300 per month — ouch! — compared with $1,650 in Austin.
So where can you find the most single people to pile into that rented limo and head out for a day of shopping, eating, and drinking? Philadelphia, PA, is number one for the overall percentage of single people and affordable rents (especially when you consider the cost of an apartment for rent in Los Angeles, CA, our runner-up city, where median rent hovers around $2,500 a month).
