2022’s Best Cities to Get and Stay Married

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on LawnStarter.

There’s never been a better time to tie — or tighten — the knot. The 2022 wedding season is projected to be the biggest in 40 years.

Your chances of marital bliss, however, vary from city to city. So where should you settle down with your significant other for the best shot at a happily ever after?

With wedding season in full swing, LawnStarter ranked 2022’s Best Cities to Get and Stay Married.

We compared 190 of the biggest U.S. cities across nine key indicators of nuptial success — from current marriage rates to five-year divorce rate comparisons to wedding-venue access.

Following are the top cities to get and stay married.

1. Bellevue, WA

Overall Score: 68.77

Marriage Stability: 2

Marriage Potential: 49

Marriage Intervention: 12

Wedding-Friendliness: 23

2. Pasadena, CA

Overall Score: 65.56

Marriage Stability: 44

Marriage Potential: 105

Marriage Intervention: 1

Wedding-Friendliness: 5

3. Fullerton, CA

Overall Score: 63.28

Marriage Stability: 5

Marriage Potential: 20

Marriage Intervention: 40

Wedding-Friendliness: 8

4. Grand Rapids, MI

Overall Score: 62.99

Marriage Stability: 12

Marriage Potential: 27

Marriage Intervention: 9

Wedding-Friendliness: 4

5. Orlando, FL

Overall Score: 59.42

Marriage Stability: 57

Marriage Potential: 14

Marriage Intervention: 4

Wedding-Friendliness: 12

6. Newark, NJ

Overall Score: 59.18

Marriage Stability: 3

Marriage Potential: 32

Marriage Intervention: 112

Wedding-Friendliness: 37

7. St. Louis, MO

Overall Score: 58.94

Marriage Stability: 74

Marriage Potential: 30

Marriage Intervention: 23

Wedding-Friendliness: 1

8. Atlanta, GA

Overall Score: 57.42

Marriage Stability: 78

Marriage Potential: 73

Marriage Intervention: 2

Wedding-Friendliness: 47

9. Washington, D.C.

Overall Score: 57.42

Marriage Stability: 11

Marriage Potential: 86

Marriage Intervention: 20

Wedding-Friendliness: 48

10. Naperville, IL

Overall Score: 57.34

Marriage Stability: 30

Marriage Potential: 41

Marriage Intervention: 22

Wedding-Friendliness: 7

11. San Francisco, CA

Overall Score: 57.00

Marriage Stability: 35

Marriage Potential: 47

Marriage Intervention: 15

Wedding-Friendliness: 14

12. Fremont, CA

Overall Score: 56.92

Marriage Stability: 1

Marriage Potential: 95

Marriage Intervention: 183

Wedding-Friendliness: 135

13. Santa Clarita, CA

Overall Score: 55.92

Marriage Stability: 8

Marriage Potential: 18

Marriage Intervention: 108

Wedding-Friendliness: 67

14. Sunnyvale, CA

Overall Score: 55.76

Marriage Stability: 4

Marriage Potential: 43

Marriage Intervention: 154

Wedding-Friendliness: 97

15. Irvine, CA

Overall Score: 55.74

Marriage Stability: 15

Marriage Potential: 175

Marriage Intervention: 11

Wedding-Friendliness: 32

Methodology

We ranked 190 of the largest U.S. cities from best (No. 1) to worst (No. 190) for getting and staying married based on their overall scores (out of 100 possible points), averaged across the weighted metrics below:

• Marriage Rate
• 5-Year Change in Marriage Rate (2020 vs. 2015)
• Separation and Divorce Rate
• 5-Year Difference in Separation and Divorce Rate (2020 vs. 2015)
• Never-Married Young Population Rate
• 5-Year Change in Never-Married Young Population Rate (2020 vs. 2015)
• Relationship Therapists per 10,000 Married Households
• Outdoor Wedding-Friendliness
• Indoor Wedding Venus per 100,000 Residents

Sources: Lawn Love, Psychology Today, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Yelp, and Zola

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