Thanks to a burgeoning college population, Boston retained its No. 2 spot on the list. The city has the most people per capita with active profiles on Match.com. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

The Big Apple has the most singles, and there's tons of things to do. But with its high cost of living and poor job market, it came in at No. 5. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)Striking out in the game of loveThere's a better chance of hitting a home run in Denver.

For the third straight year, the Denver-Boulder area has ranked No. 1 on Forbes.com's ranking of "America's Best Cities for Singles." Boston retained its No. 2 spot.

"Denver has a lot of nightlife," says Forbes.com writer David Ewalt. "There are tons of restaurants, tons of bars. There is a lot of culture, a lot of museums. It's a relatively cheap place to live in. It really comes together in all the different categories to make it the No. 1 place."

The rankings, which are based on 40 of the largest metropolitan areas in the continental U.S., show singles are not just looking to live in big cities. Los Angeles, the second largest city, came in 19th, lower than Columbus, Ohio, Sacramento, Calif., and Milwaukee. Chicago, the third largest city, came in 22nd, below Providence, R.I.

Singles want nightlife and culture, but they also want a place where they can find a job and afford to live, says Ewalt. New York -- No. 5 on the overall list -- ranked 24th in the salary-adjusted, cost of living category, and San Francisco came in at 17.

"San Francisco is held back by the cost of living and the job growth," says Ewalt. "It's the same story as New York: great things going for it, but the jobs are not great and the cost of living is high. But San Francisco's coolness is very high. It has a lot of single people living there. There's also some great nightlife."

Of course, says Ewalt, your success as a single person is up to you. You could be lonely in Mile High City and be happy in love in Greensboro, N.C.

"The data backs up that these cities are a great place to live if you are a single person," he says. "But it's really about what you make of what these cities have to offer."

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The Mile High City does it again, coming in at number one for the third time in a row in Forbes.com's annual "Best American Cities for Singles" for its good college crowd, major sports teams, night life, and low cost. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

THE METHOD:

Forbes.com made a list of 40 large U.S. metropolitan centers, then ranked each of them in seven areas: nightlife, culture, job growth, number of other singles, cost of living alone, "coolness" and for the first time, online dating. All the categories were weighted equally with the exception of the number of other singles, which counted double.

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TOP 10 CITIES FOR SINGLES:

1. Denver-Boulder, Colo.

2. Boston

3. Phoenix

4. San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.

5. New York City

6. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

7. Seattle

8. Austin, Texas

9. Washington, D.C.-Baltimore, Md.

10. Miami

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5 WORST PLACES FOR SINGLES:

Salt Lake City

Cleveland

San Antonio, Texas

Norfolk, Va. (for the second year in a row)

Greensboro, N.C. (for the second year in a row)

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BEST COST OF LIVING:

Atlanta

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BEST NIGHTLIFE PER CAPITA:

Cincinnati

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CITY WITH THE MOST SINGLES:

New York

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BIGGEST SUPRISE:

Phoenix, up from 14th place in 2005

"People are surprised to learn that Phoenix ranks very high in the cultural category," Ewalt says. "There's also a lot of young people there that help drive up the nightlife and make the place more interesting."

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MOVING ON UP:

Providence, R.I. -- to 20th from 37th in 2005

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TAKING THE PLUNGE:

Detroit -- to 33rd from 16th in 2005

"It ranked pretty poorly in job growth," says Ewalt. "Their coolness factor came in very low and they also didn't have a lot of online dating. Detroit is a city that has been trying to come back from economic difficulties. The city might be doing well, but their single scene has not noticeably improved."

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For more, http://www.forbes.com/singles

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