By The Numbers: Married Or Not Edition

I recently went to my first-ever engagement party. The bride to be is my first galpal here in New York to find Mr. Right -- so the occasion got me to thinking about the role of geography in finding true love.

The Big Apple doesn’t rate highly in most surveys about top dating destinations

Most of my friends who have tied the knot are from smaller cities. Many surveys support the idea that New York is a challenging place to be a single. The Big Apple failed to make either of The Top 10 lists in a Sperling roundup of best and worst dating cities in the U.S. (for the record, Austin, Texas was the winner).

In my own social circle, I’ve definitely seen the effect that where you reside has on who you end up with. Here are some examples of this dynamic -- By The Numbers:

Number of married girlfriends: 7
Number of married girlfriends who live in NY: 1
Number of single girlfriends: 13
Number of single girlfriends who live in NY: 11
Number of NY girlfriends in serious relationships: 2
Number of NY girlfriends who found love within days of moving back to the Midwest: 1

One of my best friends once asked if it has ever occurred to me that my soul mate isn’t in New York. The honest answer to that is no. And not just because I’ve been there and done the long distance thing, or because I’m not open to Mr. Right candidates outside of my zip code.

No, it’s for the simple reason that home is where my heart is. And I believe that even in a competitive dating marketplace like NYC, when your heart is truly in the search for happily ever after, eventually--statistical odds be damned--you’ll find it.