Hold your nose and download tinder.

No surprise here: Most people said they met online. If you can’t tolerate hookup apps such as Tinder—the digital matchmaker used by the majority of our respon- dents—ask your friends and family for introductions. A fifth of Denverites who responded met their better halves through IRL social networks.

Graphics by Sean Parsons

Keep your special friends close.

More than 80 percent of couples lived within a 30-minute car ride of each other when they started dating. In fact, nearly 17 percent of couples lived within walking distance.

5280 February 2023
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Graphics by Sean Parsons

Don’t worry if you don’t shred.

Only 16 percent said it would be a deal breaker if a potential partner didn’t know how to ski or snowboard. Meaning, despite the unspoken rule to identify your ski passes on your dating profile, an inability to rip shouldn’t pre- vent you from eventually realizing a mountain wedding.

Skip the hike.

Denver may be a notoriously outdoorsy town, but only one percent of respondents headed to a state or national park for their first dates with their future spouses. Boring as it may be, your prospects are best if you meet up for dinner—even if it’s at McDonald’s.

Graphics by Sean Parsons

By the Numbers

2.3: The average time, in years, that married Denverites dat- ed before getting engaged. Now you know exactly how long you have to save for that dream ring.

85: Percent of ZIP code 80203’s population that was single during the 2020 census, making the Capitol Hill neighborhood it covers the best place in the metro area for an old-fashioned meet cute. The worst? Broomfield County’s 80023 and Jefferson County’s 80007, where single men and women, respectively, make up 14 percent of the population.