Colorado's Single Women Rank Among Pickiest in the Nation

Colorado women are looking for a man in finance. With a trust fund. Six-five. Blue eyes.

At least, that's according to a new survey from DatingNews.com, which found that Colorado women have the fourth-highest standards in the country for their romantic partners in terms of income and looks.

That could be one reason Denver's dating scene has earned a reputation as a "dumpster fire." The description comes from Emily Balch, a cast member in the Denver-based season of Married at First Sight. And now another authority has weighed in.

The survey asked 3,000 single women aged eighteen to 35 whether they would consider dating a man who earns less than $100,000 per year or is of below-average attractiveness. Nearly one in three Colorado respondents said they would not date a man who doesn't make six figures or who is not conventionally attractive — compared to just 17 percent of women nationwide.

Colorado's 31 percent is topped only by Florida with 32 percent, California with 37 percent and New York with a whopping 41 percent. Alaska women were found to have the lowest standards, with only 5 percent saying they wouldn't date such a man.

While Colorado women value high salaries and good looks, they ranked "a great personality" as being the number-one attribute they find most attractive in a man. But that's followed by a substantial salary at number two and physical attractiveness at number three.

Nationally, 64 percent of respondents said they would not date a man who still lives with his parents, and 41 percent said they wouldn't date a man who doesn't own a car, the survey found. However, between 80 and 85 percent of the women said they would date a man without a college degree, who has a non-traditional job, or who has never traveled outside of his home state.

The high standards of Colorado women are no shock to some Westword readers, who have complained that Denver women have "1,000-plus dudes coming at them constantly," making them overly reliant on surface-level traits to narrow down the herd. But on the flip side, many Denver women say they're simply trying to find men who are serious and looking to settle down, as the city is inundated with "the Peter Pan guy" who wants casual fun but not a relationship.

Throw another log on the dumpster fire!

To help ease the pain of dating in Denver, Westword will award two VIP tickets to Tacolandia on July 13 to the reader with the worst dating story, so that they can give dating another shot while sharing unlimited taco and spirits samples.

Send your bad dating stories to [email protected] or via the comments or DMs of our Westword social media accounts.