The 2026 Dating Scene: It’s Expensive

Can Generation Z Afford Relationships?

According to a Bank of America survey, young adults in the U.S. can’t afford to date.  Of the 18 to 29 year olds polled, 51% said they are out of the dating game, for now. If they can’t afford to take someone out for dinner and to a movie, they believe they can’t realistically pursue a serious relationship.  Are menu prices too high?  Is fuel too costly?  Are wages too low?  Or is dating just altogether different than it was ten years ago?  A little digging proves there could be a perfect storm of variables contributing to Gen Z’s choice to postpone long- term relationships.

Date-Flation

BMO data puts the average cost of a date at just under $200, a 12.5% jump from 2025.  With current food and fuel prices high, the number isn’t altogether surprising.  In fact, some of the most popular menu items, coffee, beer and beef have seen significant price increases in the last year, making both morning meet ups and evening get togethers less affordable for young people.  

Like beef or coffee beans, any item that was already facing a supply constraint is now further pressurized by oil prices. However, while we know that a steak dinner is expensive and that fewer Americans are eating out, we don’t necessarily build an equation that looks like what we are seeing today.  Pricey food, plus pricey fuel, equals no dating for Gen Z. It's an interesting byproduct of a complex economic climate.

Only 11% of individuals surveyed by Bank of America said they were actively dating in pursuit of a long term relationship. Participants defined dating as an average of 18 dates per year. To budget for that you’d need to allocate roughly $3,600 dollars annually to spend on food, fuel, a movie and any pampering required to prepare to impress your date.  In 1990 dinner and a movie cost just $47.10.  In 2010 date night was calculated at $79.90.  Considering this, $200 seems a little steep even if we can point to geopolitical conflicts and supply challenges.

Careers First, Relationships Later

High priced menu items are only part of the dating dilemma.  As the cost of goods rises, wages have largely remained the same.  According to the Bank of America survey, 29% of young adults said they were living paycheck to paycheck between paying for housing, food and commuting.  If it's difficult to cover regular monthly expenses, dating seems out of the question.

According to data collected by dating app services, the average 18 to 24 year old is earning $40,000 a year and the slightly more established 25 to 34 year old group is earning an average of $59,000. Spending $3,400 a year on dates would be 6% to 9% of income, which could seem like a lot or a little depending on one’s financial goals. 

Dating apps have seen a decline in usership, and they believe it is largely due to the fact that young people don’t earn enough money today to go on dates.  This suggests a fundamental shift in social trends based on economic dynamics.  Young adults are prioritizing financial security over relationships, or at least seeing them as two individual steps.  They are moving up the corporate ladder, saving for a downpayment and building a healthy credit score before considering marriage.  

The idea of growing and building together is giving way to an individualistic perspective. Gen Z feels increased pressure to build wealth and assets in order to be able to marry, which naturally leads to the pursuit of personal goals over building a family.  Even if dates begin to look more like home cooked meals or walks, Gen Z’s trend of dating and marrying later could stick due to the perception shift.

There’s an argument to be made that dating is challenging for reasons other than the short beef supplies, conflict in the Strait of Hormuz and stagnant wages.   Prior to 2013 people met through mutual friends or in a group setting.  Today, Americans rely on algorithms to play matchmaker.  Instead of an organic encounter, the first date carries a different weight than it used to.  Do young people expect dating to be full of premium experiences instead of casual encounters? It would appear they are financially planning to achieve this.  Maybe we didn’t realize how bit the social shift was until the economics complicated the plan.

What Happens to the Economy if Gen Z Stops Dating?

Economics work both ways.  The average cost of a date might be high enough to make young people stop and think before asking someone out to dinner, but if Gen Z waits to marry and start building families until their mid thirties that could have an impact on the economy too.

If five to ten years from now they are not paying for weddings, buying three bedroom homes or purchasing family goods how will they be spending their income?  If they are waiting an extra decade to have children, what will the population entering the labor force look like twenty or even thirty years from now?

What appears to be a safeguard to financial stability now could present problems for young people later in life.  Dual incomes tend to build wealth faster.  And single incomes tend to benefit less from tax breaks and incentives. Saving money on a few dates a year doesn’t necessarily mean young people are getting ahead financially. Yet, current behavioral trends could impact future housing markets, birth rates and wealth distribution in the United States.

We can’t point to a single variable that is making young people opt to stay home.  But, the economics of pricey dates has shown us that Gen Z thinks about building a family very differently than the Boomers or Generation X.  Even if fuel prices drop and a steak diner becomes more affordable, Gen Z might still opt out of dating until they’ve achieved their financial goals.