San Francisco is No.1 for Singles, Says Forbes.com.

New York City Ranks 2(nd) on Seventh Annual "Best Cities For Singles" List

NEW YORK -- San Francisco takes the No. 1 spot on Forbes.com's seventh annual ranking of America's "Best Cities For Singles," available at www.forbes.com/singles. According to Forbes.com,

The list covers 40 of the largest "urbanized areas" in the U.S., judged on culture, nightlife, job growth, the cost of living alone, online dating, the number of other singles, and "coolness."

New York City moves into second place on the list, and also ranks first for nightlife. Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago fill out the top five spots. The top 10 cities on this year's list are:

1. San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.      6. Washington, D.C.
2. New York City, N.Y.                7. San Diego, Calif.
3. Los Angeles, Calif.                8. Seattle, Wash.
4. Atlanta, Ga.                       9. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
5. Chicago, Ill.                     10. Philadelphia, Pa.

Other highlights of the list:

* Providence, R.I. finishes in last place, the worst city for singles on the list

* Buffalo, N.Y. (31), Jacksonville, Fla. (34) and Memphis, Tenn. (23) debut

* Denver, Colo. and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas tied as the most affordable cities for singles; Houston, Texas ranked first in online dating

* New this year: a Harris Interactive poll determined which cities Americans think are "coolest"

This year's report also names the "most eligible" bachelor and bachelorette in each city. Sex columnist Violet Blue provides her take on the San Francisco dating scene, and author Leslie Talbot calls for an end to discrimination against singles, among other features. For the 40 city rankings, complete methodology and much more, visit:

www.forbes.com/singles