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The YesTonite city index: which cities score best for dating

We scored 145 cities from 1 to 10 on date costs, openness to dating, meeting people in real life and night safety. Here are the leaders and what each score means.

By Jev, founder of YesTonite · · 4 min read

A busy night market with warm string lights and food stalls

Where is it easiest to meet someone new, and where does a first date cost the least? We wanted a straight answer, so we built one: the YesTonite city index. It gives 145 cities a score from 1 to 10 on the things that matter when you're single, curious and maybe new in town. You can explore every city on the zoomable world map in our international dating guide.

A quick note before the rankings. These scores are our own estimates, built from public data: Numbeo, national statistics offices, the EF English Proficiency Index, InterNations Expat Insider, the World Happiness Report, the WEF Global Gender Gap Report and Equaldex. Every city goes through the same formula, so the numbers stay comparable. They're a starting point for planning, not a verdict on anyone's hometown.

What each score means

  • Date budget: what a simple first date costs, counted as 2 beers and 2 cappuccinos in euros. Around 6 EUR earns a 10, 40 EUR earns a 1. Cheaper is better.
  • Open to dating: the share of people who have used dating apps or sites. 10% gives a 1, 60% gives a 10. This figure usually comes from a national survey, so cities in the same country often share it.
  • Meeting in real life: how easy newcomers find it to settle in and make friends, from the InterNations Expat Insider survey (70%), plus late-night options (30%).
  • Safe at night: how safe people feel walking alone after dark, based on Numbeo's index.
  • Late nights: when bars close at weekends and whether public transport runs at night.
  • Overall: the average of the five scores above. We only show it when at least four of the five are known.

The map also shows English spoken, outdoor season, sunshine, happiness, gender equality, LGBTQ+ friendliness, living costs and the balance of women and men. You can sort by any of them or mix your own ranking.

The top 10 overall

Spain owns the top of the list. Cheap drinks, very late nights and cities where newcomers settle in easily add up quickly. Four cities share eighth place, so the top 10 has eleven names:

One honest caveat: we don't yet have a reliable dating app figure for Spain, Portugal or Taiwan, so their overall score is the average of the other four. Rio de Janeiro has all five, including a full 10 for openness to dating, but a 1.4 for night safety holds it back. Just behind the top group you'll find Budapest at 7.2 and Palma at 7.1.

Top 5 for cheap dates

  • Hanoi: 10 (5.20 EUR for 2 beers and 2 coffees)
  • Ho Chi Minh City: 10 (5.20 EUR)
  • Manila: 9.5 (6.60 EUR)
  • Chiang Mai: 9.2 (7.10 EUR)
  • Delhi: 8.7 (7.90 EUR)

In Europe, Skopje (8.60 EUR) and Seville (8.70 EUR) are the cheapest. If you want to see the full list, including the most expensive cities, sort the index by date budget.

Top 5 open to dating

Four cities score a full 10: Hong Kong, Medellín, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Right behind them, Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai share 9.8. Mexico City and Guadalajara follow at 9.1, and Prague and Brno at 8.7, the highest in Europe among the cities where we have this data.

Keep in mind what this score measures: how many people have used dating apps or sites, not how romantic a city is. A high score mainly tells you that meeting someone through an app is normal there.

Top 5 safe at night

  • Taipei: 8.5
  • Chiang Mai: 8.1
  • Zagreb: 8.0
  • Singapore: 7.8
  • Hong Kong and Ljubljana: 7.6

Notice that no city gets a 10. Even the safest places top out at 8.5, so meeting in a public place and planning your way home is good advice everywhere.

How to read the index

No city wins at everything, and that's the useful part. Hong Kong scores 10 for openness to dating but only 3.7 for date budget, because 2 beers and 2 coffees cost about 22.70 EUR. Rio de Janeiro is cheap and open, but scores low for night safety. Taipei is one of the safest cities on the list and still makes the overall top 10.

So start with what matters most to you. If you're on a budget, sort by date budget. If you're moving somewhere and know nobody, look at meeting in real life. If you often head home late, check safe at night and late nights together.

Then go one step further. For many cities, the guides list real places to meet new people and real spots to take a date, with addresses and maps. For each country, the dating culture page explains the local habits, with a GO TO and a NO GO list for newcomers.

The data was checked in October 2026. Prices and surveys change, so we'll keep updating the scores as new numbers come out.

YesTonite is a free app that shows who nearby is going out tonight, so you can say hi and meet the same evening.

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