Age
Are all the good men taken?
Partly. The share of men without a partner falls from about 6 in 10 in their late 20s to about 1 in 4 by their 40s, then stops falling.
It's one of the most repeated lines in dating: all the good men are taken. We checked it in two steps. First, how many men have no partner at each age. Then, how many of those single men also pass a reasonable list.
Step 1: how many men are single at each age
Share of men with no wife and no live-in partner, by age.
| Age | Australia | US | Canada | NZ | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25–29 | 60% | 58% | 66% | 58% | 59% |
| 30–34 | 42% | 41% | 44% | 37% | 38% |
| 35–39 | 31% | 31% | 32% | 26% | 29% |
| 40–44 | 26% | 28% | 28% | 23% | 26% |
| 45–49 | 27% | 26% | 27% | 24% | 27% |
| 50–55 | 27% | 27% | 28% | 25% | 27% |
The drop is steep through the late 20s and 30s, from about 6 in 10 to about 3 in 10. Then it stops. From the early 40s on, about one man in four is single in every country. Divorce puts men back into the pool about as fast as marriage takes them out.
Step 2: the good ones
Now add the meter's everyday standards: single or divorced, straight, no criminal record, lean to average build, at least 5'9" (175 cm), earning at least 80,000 a year in local currency. Here's how many men pass at each age.
| Age | Australia | US | Canada | NZ | UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25–29 | 28,700 | 232,000 | 33,500 | 3,630 | 7,840 |
| 30–34 | 24,000 | 215,000 | 34,100 | 3,690 | 10,900 |
| 35–39 | 17,600 | 164,000 | 26,900 | 2,550 | 10,000 |
| 40–44 | 13,600 | 132,000 | 21,100 | 1,900 | 9,220 |
| 45–49 | 11,100 | 101,000 | 16,200 | 1,550 | 8,390 |
| 50–55 | 10,900 | 111,000 | 14,600 | 1,680 | 8,680 |
In Australia and the US, the number of "good" single men in their late 40s is less than half what it was in their late 20s. Higher incomes with age don't make up for fewer single men and more weight gain. The UK is different: £80,000 is a high salary there, so its pool peaks in the early 30s, once more men have reached that income.
So, are they all taken?
No, but they go fastest in your late 20s and early 30s. After about 40 the pool stops shrinking, and it includes many divorced men who are back on the market. If you're over 40, divorced men are your biggest growth area. Tick "Divorced" on the meter and watch the count jump.
The 50–55 group covers six years of age and the others five, so its count is slightly flattered. "Good" here is the meter's preset standard, not a judgement of anyone's character.
Run your own list on the meter
Estimates come from the same model as the meter: official population, census, health-survey and tax data for each country, combined age by age. Filters are treated as independent within each age, so treat the results as estimates, not a head count. The full method and sources are under "How it's calculated" on the meter.