What Turns Us On

The Geography of Coupling

Where the action is for those who are on the prowl, on the rebound, or happily settled down.

illustration by james kraus/artguy

1. With the most relationship and family therapists per capita, Newburyport couples have the best chance of working things out.

2. Carlisle is the go-to spot for power couples. Three-fourths of its residents hold management or professional jobs, the highest percentage in the state.

3. Partnerships are strong in Andover: Just 1% of its married pairs are separated.

4. Matrimony is thriving in Boxford, which has the state’s highest percentage of married couples with children (80%).

5. Boston has the state’s most diverse dating scene, with roughly 50% of the population being white, 25% black, 14% Latino, and 8% Asian.

6. There’s no need to be a cheap date around Wellesley men. Their median salary is well over $100,000.

7. With median incomes of around $56,000, Dover women are among the highest-paid—and, perhaps, well-dressed—in the state.

8. Some of the smartest catches live in Brookline: Nearly half its residents have graduate or professional degrees—the highest percentage in Massachusetts.

9. With a bar or restaurant for every 200 residents, tiny Cohasset offers more nightlife than most Greater Boston towns.

10. Aspiring trophy spouses should set their sights on Chatham, where 34% of the population is over 65 years old (and rich!).

Hunting Grounds

• Chestnut Hill’s Met Bar is a pickup scene 2.0 for the western ‘burbs set.

• In the city, love at first sight is de rigueur on the dance floor of Cambridge’s Middlesex, at the bar of the South End’s Beehive, and in the produce section of the Beacon Hill Whole Foods.

• The barstools at Hingham’s Scarlet Oak Tavern are a choice spot for first dates.

• Duxbury rail commuters endure an average 40-minute ride to work, which makes the train ideal for people-watching and romance-starting.

• Once an old-timer’s cigar-smoke-and-whiskey-fueled spot, Carmela’s in Kingston has become a sanctuary for clandestine affairs.

• Power couples and the occasional cougar like to hit the bar at Alba in Quincy, the Abe & Louie’s of the South Shore.