Dating the District

730DC’s love and relationships poll, updated for 2016.

Let’s see how you love. 733 people took our survey, most of whom were in their mid-20s. (Shoutout to the forty-plus demographic, though!)

About five times as many women as men took the survey, which is fascinating in its own right but confounds any simple conclusions to be generalized from the data. 85% identified as straight and 12% as queer, with another 3% electing further identities, ranging from pansexuality to “over labels.”

Here’s how the first date goes down

Spontaneity isn’t entirely dead; 11% of relationships began with a chance meeting. But it’s hard to overstate how radically dating apps like Tinder, OKCupid, Bumble, and Hinge have reshaped how our generation dates. A third of readers said their most recent relationship began via a dating site or app, up from a quarter last time we did this poll in 2015. Ten years ago it was “online dating” and it seemed like it would be forever haunted by the cloying cuteness of Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. Now you can say you met someone on Farmers Only and there’s a 50% chance the statement will be met with a straight face. Maybe we should just relaunch as a dating site?

Going splits on the first date outstrips the more old-fashioned “man always pays” mindset, with “whoever asked” in second. While 22% are still saying that dudes gotta pony up, our personal kudos go to readers pointing out that the gendered phrasing of the question is outdated, even offensive. (FWIW: the numbers stay roughly the same if you split the question out by gender identity.)

How does it go from there?

Pretty well, actually.

My god, you all are happy! Good for you! When we asked how long you’d been in your current or most recent relationship, the most common answer (other than N/A) was 1–2 years, with 2–6 months close behind. But a solid number have been together for more than 3 years — something like a fifth of these relationships are pretty long-term. Congrats!