Instacart Reveals Its Second Annual Most — and Least — Romantic Cities

Valentine’s Day is upon us again — a time for romance. A time for flowers, candy, hearts and 50 shades of pink, purple and red.

Admittedly, we’re obsessed with every aspect of grocery shopping. As such, last year — for the first time ever — we decided to use February to look at grocery for its insight into romance. The results were so interesting (and fun) that we’re diving into this year’s search data to reveal the most — and least — romantic cities, according to the 2018 IRI (Instacart Romance Index.)

First, we looked at nationwide data and noticed a spike in romance-related search trends:

• They’re classic for a reason: In terms of sheer volume, “chocolate” came in on top of our search index terms and “strawberries” came in second. This classic combo remains the go-to Valentine’s Day fave.
• Hearts are en vogue: Searches for the term “heart” — think heart-shaped candy, cookies, pizza, etc. — saw the biggest spike in Valentine’s Day ordering with a whopping 219% surge.

For the second annual Instacart Romance Index, we identified 12 universally romantic terms and used them to determine which cities were the most — and least — romantic.

Cities who boasted the biggest bump in romantic searches ranked high on the index. Conversely, those cities that treated February 14 as “just another day” fell to the bottom.

Let’s Take A Look Back…

Before we unveil the 2018 results, let’s take a walk down memory lane and revisit the results of the first annual Instacart Romance Index.

Drumroll Please…

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, our second annual ranking of the Most Romantic and Least Romantic Cities.

2018 Most Romantic Cities:

1. Boston — The city on a hill took the top spot in our Romance Index for the second year in a row. Freezing temperatures have sure taught Bostonians how to stay warm.

2. Atlanta — This city is “too busy to hate” because it’s focused on love. Atlanta stepped up their game this year to climb from the fifth Least Romantic City in 2017 all way to the number two spot. Look out Boston, Atlanta may be preparing to dethrone you!

3. Austin — The Texas capital also decided to get serious about romance this year, swapping their rank as the third LEAST romantic city to the third MOST romantic. We see you, Austin.

4. Philadelphia — The city of brotherly love held strong, maintaining its spot as the fourth best city for romance.

5. Charlotte — A newcomer makes good. Charlotte got in the action this year, taking fifth place in our most romantic city list.

6. Oakland — You may remember San Francisco made a showing as the sixth most unromantic city last year. Oakland is coming in as the sixth most romantic city this year, explaining that all the love is in the East Bay.

7. Washington DC — Residents of The District had a lot going on this year. They still hold strong as one of the most romantic cities but took a slight tumble from third to seventh.

8. Chicago — The windy city rounds out our list of the most romantic cities, dropping just a bit from its sixth place 2017 ranking.

2018 Least Romantic Cities:

8. Houston — We thought we had a problem, and we were right. Houston barely squeaked onto our Most Romantic Cities list in 2017. This year, it tumbled a little further and kicks off our 2018 Least Romantic Cities list. Give love a chance, Houston!

7. San Antonio — San Antonio may be starting to pop up on “best places to live” lists, but it makes its Instacart Romance Index debut in the seventh slot of the Most Unromantic Cities list.

6. San Diego — If you want to catch a wave and work on your tan, San Diego is where it’s at. San Diegans might just be too busy having fun for romance.

5. Denver — Sure, The Mile High City may not be the most romantic, but at least it’s consistent, holding the fifth spot on the Most Unromantic Cities list for the second year in a row. There’s something to be said about stability, though.

4. Seattle — Last year, The Emerald City’s romance game was strong, but on . our 2018 list, Seattle drops from the second MOST romantic city to the fourth LEAST romantic.

3. Orlando — Making its debut on the Instacart Romance Index, please welcome Orlando. O-Town — not the boy band — joins the Romance Index as the third least romantic city.

2. Raleigh — Roughly 150 miles away from Charlotte, where romance is alive and well, Raleigh clocked in as number two on our Least Romantic City list.

1. Indianapolis — The Circle City maintained its ranking as one of the most Unromantic Cities on our list, but took the LEAST romantic crown after coming in second last year.

No matter where your city fell on the Instacart Romance Index this year, we think this is a great reminder for you to fill your cart with romance. Go on, place an order for same-day delivery and reassert for your sweetie that the most romantic spot to be on Valentine’s Day is with you — no matter which city you call home.

Methodology Statement:

We examined the change in Instacart user behavior by comparing growth adjusted week over week changes in the popularity of various search terms. We used a data set comprised of millions of searches from consumers spread over the 190 North American markets in which Instacart operated in 2017. Our results are focused on the strongest relative rise in customer interest in the week of Valentine’s Day for our designated search terms.