Interested in dating in Portland, Oregon? This incredibly diverse Oregon city is known for embracing people of all backgrounds. The city’s art and music scene make it the perfect place for creative types, and there are always fun new bars or restaurants to explore. Its location is perfect for anyone looking to find someone who also enjoys the outdoors.
Dating in Portland is way more laid back than it is in other cities and that’s a direct result of the city’s laid back vibe. People in Portland take the time to smell the roses and drink a good cup of coffee. And they know good coffee – there are coffee shops everywhere and everyone has a favorite haunt. Portlanders explore book stores and wander through art galleries. When it comes to dating, it’s just a matter of finding someone in Portland who shares your interests.
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Best Portland Dating Sites
For Singles: Match.com
Match is a great resource for singles in Portland because the median age is 36 and so there are plenty of people who choose a trusted dating site over hookup apps.
Since Match is a trusted dating site, there are more locals on the site looking for fellow locals, and Match’s robust platform will connect you to people who share similar interests and allow you to explore at your own pace. The free site will let you search the profiles but you’ll need a paid membership to communicate with anyone you want to meet.
As a dating site, Match is one of the best services available because of the ability to upgrade to a paid account and find people who are serious about making connections. There is limited access to the site via the free version of the service, so if you’re serious it’s best to use the paid site to find people. Match offers monthly, 3-month and 6-month package deals with discounts available for the 3 and 6-month packages.
For Professionals: Elite Singles
Elite Singles is a great resource for people looking for serious matches in Portland. Portland serves as the headquarters of several major corporations and so there are always executives looking to find dates without the hassle of speed dating or searching through profiles.
Many Elite Singles clients include CEOs, professionals and other titans of industry. They use a proprietary formula to match people to 3-7 matches each day, which means you can’t search openly on your own and must wait for the site to send matches each day. These matches tend to be college educated (this is a selling point for the site) with a slightly older clientele than the rest of the dating sites, usually in their 30s and older, and so this site is perfect for mature business professionals.
Elite Singles offers a free service with limited resources, and different levels of paid membership that offer more perks like unlimited communication.
For Seniors over Age 50: Our Time
Our Time is a great resource for mature relationship seekers in Portland. Many of the local seniors have been in the city forever and they embrace the city’s eclectic culture.
Our Time offers an upgraded service that offers unlimited email and messaging between matches with packages ranging from one to six months.
For the LGBTQ Community
All of the top dating sites offer the ability to search for gay and lesbian matches, with Match being the most LGBTQ friendly thanks to the site’s easy to use interface. The ability to search listings and instantly connect (through a paid membership) helps to circumvent the lengthy process of waiting to be connected to people who match your profile.
Portland has a very active LGBTQ scene with a large gay and lesbian community that is embraced and supported by the greater Portland community at large. Gay singles will have no trouble meeting people in this vibrant town, and there are plenty of places to go to hang out and be seen.
For Hookups: Adult Friend Finder
Adult Friend Finder is a great place to find someone to hook up with for a night or weekend in Portland. Porlanders are very open about sex and some people prefer casual hookups to relationships. AFF is the place to go to find quality hookups and people to have fun with.
AFF offers plenty of people looking to have some fun with no strings attached. Like other sites, Adult Friend Finder has a free platform, but the upgraded version of the site comes with more profiles and more options to communicate with people who catch your eye.
Best Dating Apps in Portland
All of the major dating sites offer their services through an app, which is free to download and use, and it can be connected to your paid account. Both Match and Zoosk are great dating apps, as both offer the ability to search profiles and connect with people directly and that’s much easier on a smartphone than navigating questionnaires and surveys in order to meet people.
With so many people out and about enjoying the city, Portland singles love using dating apps to find new people on the go.
Best Dating Bars for Singles in Portland
Portland is known for a wide variety of food options. From vegan restaurants to local craft brew pubs, there is something for everyone. Being mindful of the environment, you’ll see a lot of local eateries bringing the best of the area’s offerings to the table, which is always a great conversation starter.
The Knock Back
The Knock Back is a laid-back bar with a contemporary flair that offers an assortment of beer, wine and cocktails with live music and a fun atmosphere. There’s a daily happy hour from 4-6pm with lots of food and beverage options, including their well known “dirty popcorn.”
The Old Gold
The Old Gold is known for its endless supply of whiskey. Even the food is tied to the whiskey offerings, and weekly events keep things lively. They even offer whiskey classes, which would be a fun place to meet people and get your drink on.
The Alibi
The Alibi is Portland’s original tiki bar. There’s nothing like a good tiki bar to meet new people, and The Alibi has the kind of atmosphere where it’s always a party. Open daily from 11:30am to 2:30am, you can meet for lunch, dinner, or late night drinks and there’s always a party going on.
Speed Dating in Portland
EventBrite offers a calendar of speed dating events across Portland each week and you’ll find that there are quite a few events planned at any given time. There are events for different age groups, gays and lesbians and even job-based speed dating events.
The events are open to everyone but some are geared toward specific groups. These are ideal for locals looking for a meaningful connection or for anyone looking to meet new people. Keep in mind, though, that most of these events do have fees attached to them.
Portland Dating Events & Clubs
Meetup offers a number of singles groups in Portland, and they all offer events within their respective groups that cater to that group’s interests. In fact, they have events almost every night! Portland residents are much more likely to get out to events to meet people thanks to the city’s love of being outside.
As mentioned above in the Speed Dating section, EventBrite offers all kinds of dating events for a wide range of Portland residents. Between EventBrite and Meetup you’re bound to find something that suits your needs.
Dating Chat Rooms in Portland
Portland residents love meeting new people. Sometimes you just need someone to talk to, and possibly connect with, if the spark is there. Though they might be considered outdated, chat rooms are still popular with lots of people and there are a few in Portland that offer a selection of people to talk with. Some of the top dating chat rooms in Portland to check out are Chat Hour and Portland Chat.
These are free services but be forewarned that it’s a mixed bag of people that you’ll find so be prepared to do some searching for people who meet your interests.
Personals in Portland
Like chat rooms, most of the personals sites in Portland are hookup sites, but the personals are often different in that some offer people who aren’t as familiar with the mainstream dating sites (or who don’t want to pay for them) and so they’re resorting to the most basic form of online dating. They also offer the ability to post free ads for other people to see.
Most personals feature very direct requests for hookups or encounters, so if you’re looking for a more substantive connection then Match or another paid service is really where you need to be.
Do You Like offers free personal ads with the ability to upgrade. There isn’t much offered by way of security because it’s not an actual dating site, and as a result it’s a fairly mixed bag of serious inquiries and hookup requests.
Things to Know about Portland Dating
Dating in Portland is an adventure. Though the population is relatively homogenous racially, it’s one of the more diverse cities in terms of embracing people of all backgrounds. Portland isn’t a religious city but it welcomes people of all faiths.
Population
Portland’s population is 632,309 and growing. The city has been enjoying a steady period of growth over the past several years, both due to the growth in business and thanks to the town’s inclusive atmosphere that is conducive to creative types looking to take advantage of the bustling art and culture scene.
Demographics
While Portland is a town known for being liberal and inclusive, it’s also very white. According to the 2010 census the city is 76.1% white, which is higher than many other US cities. Here is the breakdown of race and ethnicities:
- White: 76.1%
- Hispanic: 9.4%
- Asian: 7.1%
- Black: 6.3%
- Other races: 5%
- Native American: 1%
- Pacific Islander: 0.5%
Religion
While the city is very inclusive, it’s not particularly religious. Only 29% of the population indicates that they are religious, and that’s partially due to Portland’s free-spirited vibe.
Here are the top 5 religions in the city:
- Other Christian Faith: 9.2%
- Catholic: 7.9%
- Mormon: 3.8%
- Pentecostal: 2.5%
- Lutheran: 2%
Is the city Gay/Lesbian Friendly?
Portland is incredibly gay and lesbian friendly. The city embraces diversity and so there is a huge community of gay residents who are out and proud. Portland’s Pride festival is one of the largest in the country, with the entire city coming together to celebrate.
Wrap Up
Portland is a wonderfully vibrant city that embraces diversity, art and culture. Dating in Portland is not hard at all, and with so many places to go it’s possible to visit a new place every night and meet new people. While hookups will always be popular, people in Portland value relationships. It’s a fun town to find love and romance.
