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Unfortunately, Michigan’s state motto is “The Great Lakes State” and not “The Great Dates State”. Okay, that was a bit cheesy, but it makes the point we all know is true. Dating in Michigan is not easy. Whether you live in a big city like Detroit or Grand Rapids or a smaller city like Port Huron, Ann Arbor, or Dearborn—finding someone special can seem tough.
It doesn’t have to be, though. In fact, the Michigan singles scene is a lot more vibrant, exciting, and alive than most people are aware of! So, where on our hand maps are these people hiding? Online! Dating sites in Michigan are full of quality singles looking for serious relationships, casual dating, and everything in between.
Today, we’re going to turn that frown upside down and help you get started on your search for someone special in the great state of Michigan.
The leading Michigan dating app is also a nationwide favorite.
At the risk of sounding cheesy again, it seems like eHarmony and Michigan singles were a match made in heaven. Here’s three reasons why.
One—eHarmony is one of the few dating apps that lets you “cross” the US-Canada border without needing to create multiple accounts. So, if you live in northern Michigan and want some international flair in your dating life, this is a golden opportunity.
Two—if you’re looking closer to home, eHarmony is home to many singles across Michigan and also the surrounding states (especially if you live in the south closer to Ohio or Indiana or even if you travel to Chicago a lot.
Three—if you’re tired of the high school mentality towards dating and want a real relationship, that is literally what this app was designed for.
Seriously, if you want the best dating app for singles in Michigan—this is the one.
The only drawback that needs to be considered before joining is the purpose and goal of eHarmony. Regardless of what anyone tells you, this app is only for Michigan singles who want committed relationships. Casual daters need to find another option. Is this really a negative? It all depends on what you’re looking for. If serious is your jam, this is a huge positive.
With a quarter of the Michigan population over 60, SilverSingles earns a spot on the list.
Over 25% of the single’s population in the state of Michigan is over the age of 60. A lot of people find the state to be a wonderful option for a relaxing retirement and a fun place to live out their later years. It’s also one of the least expensive states for retirees, so that’s a nice plus.
If you’re a senior single in Michigan, you’re going to want to know about SilverSingles. A true 50+ only environment, the app works on a computer, tablet or smartphone and doesn’t call for you to be tech savvy to get the full experience. Additionally, you’ll find great search and matching features that help you find the right man or woman who is looking for the same relationship experience as you.
Contrary to popular belief, though, SilverSingles does allow people of all ages to join (yes, we tested this). But if you watch any of SilverSingles commercials or read any of their marketing material, they go out of there way to attract mostly senior singles in Michigan.
In a state with interest in casual dating, Zoosk’s availability on iOS and Android is a win.
Here’s a fun stat to consider. Michigan ranks 14th for oldest marriage age, meaning that a lot of people here like to keep it casual or take it slow for a while and get to getting hitched later. If you’re a single man or woman in Michigan who wants to take it slow, Zoosk is the ideal app for you. Here’s how it works.
When you create your account, you get to select from any of six different relationship goals that range from hookups to long-term dating (yes, you can select multiple options). This means if you want to keep it casual, you can indicate that and only see matches looking for the same thing as you.
The only real complaints we’ve heard about Zoosk tend to deal with one of two things. One, users who claim they want something serious but are looking for casual. In all fairness, this is not the app’s fault. Two, we’ve heard some users claim a few issues with software bugs on some platforms. As you’ll see, though, this is not the widely held view.
The app is available to use from your computer, on iOS, or Android with a pretty highly regarded app experience making it great for younger singles who want to date on the go. Oh, and if you’re not sold on this being a great option yet—over 30 million downloads and counting. Yea…that’s a lot of singles to choose from.
Michigan’s Leading Christian Dating App
There are currently over 12,000 churches in Michigan with a large percentage of these being one of many Christian denominations. This, of course, led us to understand the need to include a Christian dating app on this list. While it won’t be great for people who don’t really care about the faith of their partner, Higher Bond is perfect for Christian singles in Michigan who want something faith-focused. And as a newer app, there are a lot of incredible promotions running right now that can get you up to a year completely free with no catches.
But also as a newer app, the number of members signed up is going to be quite small. Luckily, this seems to be changing quickly, but it’s something worth pointing out.
If you’re searching for a faith-driven relationship in the Great Lake state, why not give Higher Bond a try? You may be pretty happy with what you find.
Women-Owned Michigan Dating App
Girl power is a cliché that does quite a bit to explain how Bumble is designed to work. It’s a swipe-style dating app (like Tinder) but only women can start a conversation after there is a mutual match. If they don’t decide to do so within 24 hours, the match goes away. For some Michigan singles, the ladies first setup will be welcomed, especially if they’re a woman who wants full control. However, some men aren’t going to be fans of it because they won’t be able to reach out to someone they’re really interested in and great matches could be lost.
Still, we’ve heard quite a few people in Michigan having luck on Bumble, so it’s certainly worth including on our list of the best Michigan dating apps.
Are free Michigan dating sites worth checking out?
If it’s free, it’s for me, right? Okay, that’s how we think. Here’s the scoop on free Michigan dating sites and apps. Any option that is 100% free from start to finish is not going to be worth your time. It’s going to lack security, features, quality members, and be nothing but a drag on you. We wish it wasn’t the case, but it is.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least get something for free. What we recommend for anyone looking for free Michigan dating sites is two things. Number one—reconsider investing a few bucks in your search for love. It will be worth every penny. Number two—use free trials to test out sites. Search for singles in your area. Make sure you find the perfect app before you open that wallet or purse.
To get you started, we’ve included some options at the top of the guide.
Highlights of Michigan’s dating scene
Here are some of the more important highlights and trends you can expect to see if you’re dating in Michigan.
Expect to meet a lot of lifers.
There are dating-related reasons that this could be a good thing or a bad thing, but be aware that a lot of people who live in Michigan can and will live there for their entire lives. What’s nice for dating is that if you meet someone locally, you don’t have to worry about them leaving unexpectedly like you do in a town like Miami or Las Vegas. But if you’re an outsider who moved to the state after high school, it may be tough to get connected into the tighter-knit, lifelong social circles.
High school does not end at graduation.
In a lot of cities in Michigan, the high school approach to dating and life continue long beyond graduation. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of relationships may end in silly fights and the “grown-up” approach to relationships (you know, like taking them seriously) might take a lot longer to develop. This isn’t everyone, but it’s a lot of the state.
People get married a little bit older.
The average age of marriage in Michigan is 27.9 years of age which is 14th highest in the nation. While not that far off the average, it should provide a little solace that not everyone got married to their high school sweetheart.
Safety is a chief concern in a lot of areas.
While Michigan is only the 24th most dangerous state for online dating (right in the middle), in-person dating safety is a real concern in a lot of areas. This shouldn’t deter you from getting out there, but it should encourage you to be a little more vigilant about things. Verify who you’re going out with, tell someone else your plans (and check in), and when you select a date spot—make sure it’s safe (especially in places like Detroit).
Sport rivalries may actually impact whether someone will go out with you or not.
Whether it’s Michigan vs. Michigan State or you’re from Illinois and you’re a Bears fan (the Lion’s biggest rival)—expect things to get a little spicy. While some people can keep this at playful banter, it can actually be a deal breaker for the more hardcore sports fans (or alumni from one of the colleges).
The bar scene is a haven for regulars.
In some state’s, there are so many bars and nightclubs to choose from that singles rotate where they’re going each week. If you see someone you like, your chances of running into them again randomly are low. However in Michigan, people tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to nightlife. It might be because the scene is slower in most towns or it just might be the nature of liking something comfortable. Either way, frequent spots where you see people you’re interested in regularly and you may find a nice opportunity to strike up a conversation.
Detroit ranks 30th best city for singles
Continuing our look into online dating trends in different Michigan cities, we took a look at how some of the bigger cities measured up when it came to dating compared with the rest of the country.
A recent study conducted on the best cities for singles in the US looked at the 100 largest cities in the nation. Specifically, the study looked at 36 different data points to try and identify which cities were the best and worst for singles in America. The only Michigan city to make the list was Detroit.
How’d the city do? Detroit came in the top 1/3 with a 30th place finish. Detroit did the best in the quality of the dating pool category, and also did well in the cost of dating category.
Detroit also showed the most interest in online dating apps.
Yes, we are data nerds. But often, data can give us some exciting key insights into how things work—like the dating scene in Michigan. What we wanted to figure out most recently is what areas of Michigan had the most interest in online dating. Were there certain cities where it was more popular? Less popular?
Here’s what we looked and what we found.
Google Trends data allows us to take a look at just how people in different parts of the world are searching for things online. Additionally, it allows us to see the volume of searches within certain geographical areas. Recently, we took a look at which Michigan cities had the most search traffic for online dating topics over the past 12 months. Here are the results.
- Detroit MI – (100)
- Traverse City-Cadillac MI – (93)
- Flint-Saginaw-Bay City MI- (91)
- Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek MI- (84)
- Lansing MI – (80)
- South Bend-Elkhart IN – (51)
- Toledo OH – (6)
- Alpena MI
- Marquette MI
The win goes to Detroit for the most interest in online dating! Traverse City was not far behind with 93% of the search volume seen in Detroit. And in third place was the Flint area, including all of the small surrounding cities. This doesn’t mean you won’t have luck finding love elsewhere in the state, but these areas are particularly busy when it comes to dating online in Michigan.
How safe is online dating in Michigan?
Recently, our team looked at several different data points to determine which states in the nation are the safest or most dangerous for online dating and romance scams.
Here are the data points our team looked at:
The results? Michigan came in as the 24th most dangerous, which also means it’s the 27th safest—again, not great but also not that bad. In Michigan, your statistical odds of falling for a romance scam are 1 in 17,400. We’d say these are pretty decent odds and can be heavily skewed by your willingness to educate yourself on the dangers that are out there and not to let your heart get ahead of your head.
By no means should this discourage you from trying Michigan dating apps or putting yourself out there. However, it 100% means you should make sure to do everything you can to stay safe.
