Dating in Tucson, Arizona (AZ): Resource Guide

Interested in dating in Tucson, Arizona? With over a million people in the Tucson Metro Area, and a median age of 37.9, there are plenty of people looking for love and that’s what makes Tucson the ideal place to date.

Tucson is home to some of the most beautiful desert landscapes in the Great American Southwest. From Saguaro National Park with its giant cacti and cave paintings to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, there are so many great things to do in the great outdoors. Take advantage of some of the singles events in Tucson and go meet people who share your interests, especially if you enjoy getting out and hiking or being in the beautiful desert air.

Best Tucson Dating Sites

Check our our top picks below:


For Singles: Match.com

Match.com is the best for dating in Tucson, Arizona

Match is a great resource for singles in Tucson. Match is one of the oldest and most established dating sites, and that’s why so many people trust it to find relationships. There are 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 edition of the 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

elitesingles review

Elite Singles is a great resource for people looking for serious matches in Tucson, especially considering that the median age is slightly older. 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 in Tucson, Arizona

Our Time is a great resource for mature relationship seekers in Tucson. Whether you’re looking for a pen pal, someone to talk with or someone to connect with for a serious relationship, Our Time has the best matches available for seniors.

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.

Tucson has a vibrant LGBTQ community and there are lots of people in the gay and lesbian community who use online dating apps to find partners.

Grindr

Grindr is a social networking app for the LGBTQ community. It’s open to everyone, free to use and has the ability to pay for an upgrade. It’s targeted for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of all ages and backgrounds.

Just She

Just She is a site for women to find other women for relationships. Whether you’re lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer or looking to explore, Just She connects you with tons of profiles and people to meet.

For Hookups: Adult Friend Finder

Adult Friend Finder is still a great place to find someone to hook up with for a night or weekend in Tucson, where there are lots of people who just want a fun night rather than a long term relationship. The reality is that not everyone is looking for long term relationships, so Adult Friend Finder is the place to go to connect for no strings attached meetups.

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 Tucson

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 Plenty of Fish 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.

Plenty of Fish

Plenty of Fish is one of the first app-based dating sites and it’s still one of the most trusted dating apps out there. The mobile app is available to download for free from your smartphone’s app store, and within minutes of signing up you’ll be connected to potential matches. The app is free to use with the ability to upgrade to a paid service that has added resources to meet people with enhanced tools.

Zoosk

Zoosk boasts over 40 million singles in its database. It’s a great place to find people, whether you’re looking for a long term relationship or a quick connection. The platform is easy to use and will yield plenty of results to get started. You can download the app from your smartphone’s app store and get started immediately.


Best Dating Bars for Singles in Tucson

Every city has its places for singles to meet. There are restaurants and bars that are welcoming to singles with their nightly events and fun atmospheres. Some are sports bars, some are upscale hot spots and others are local favorites, but they all offer singles a chance to meet and get to know each other while having fun and enjoying good food and drinks.

The Shelter Cocktail Lounge

The Shelter is decorated like an old fallout shelter from the Cold War era coupled with a fun 1960s vibe. There are pinball machines and lots of memorabilia to look at, which is always a great way to kick off a conversation. The Shelter is widely known as having the best martini in town, making it a favorite among locals and tourists alike.

Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink

Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink has a rotating menu of 28 tap beers and 8 tap wines. The seating is done community style, which is a great way to meet people. They have an outdoor beer garden where people can hang out and talk by the space heaters, so even if you arrive on your own there are people to talk to all around.

Dante’s Fire

Dante’s Fire is known for its flirty cocktails. It’s the perfect place for singles because of its fun and festive atmosphere, not to mention its full kitchen that’s open until 2am everyday. They have a daily happy hour and encourage people to hang out as long as they like, which helps get your mingle on.


Speed Dating in Tucson

You might not have known this before your dating journey began but there are speed dating events across Tucson each week and you’ll find that there are quite a few events planned at any given time. 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. Leading matchmakers have screened the members so that you are in a group of people who (in theory) should be ideal for what you’re looking for. If nothing else, it’s a great way to meet a lot of new people in a short amount of time!


Tucson Dating Events & Clubs

There are lots of dating events happening at any given time in Tucson, and there are singles events that cater to specific groups and their interests. In fact, between all of these sites there are events almost every night! With so many events to choose from, be sure to check out a couple and see what suits you better.

Here are the top singles events and clubs:


Dating Chat Rooms in Tucson

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 sites in Tucson that offer a selection of people to talk with. 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.

Take a look at some of the top dating chat rooms in Tucson:


Personals in Tucson

Like chat rooms, most of the personals sites in Tucson 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 original form of online dating. You don’t need to worry about answering questions or dealing with long profiles here. Personals offer the ability to post free ads for other people to see. Some people just want a penpal, while others as looking for something more tangible.

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. Many sites offer free personal ads with the ability to upgrade. There isn’t much offered by way of security because none of these are actual dating sites, and as a result they’re a mixed bag of serious inquiries and hookup requests.


Things to Know about Tucson Dating

Dating in Tucson

Whether you’re new in town, just visiting, a longtime resident or a native to the area, it’s important to understand the demographics of the city’s population. Most dating sites are a reflection of what you’ll find in a given city, so knowing more about race, religion and LGBTQ+ demographics will help prepare you for your dating journey.

Race

Tucson’s population is just over one million people. The median age in Tucson is 37.9, which means there are lots of folks looking to settle down. Only 47% of the population is married, so there are plenty of singles out there looking to get into the dating arena.

  • White: 54.1%
  • Hispanic: 35.4%
  • African American: 3.2%
  • Asian: 2.6%
  • Native American: 2.5%
  • Other Races: 0.2%

Religion

With such a large concentration of Hispanic people in Tucson it’s not surprising that 40.5% of the population is religious. Here are the top five religions in Tucson:

  • Catholic: 21.4%
  • Another Christian Faith: 5.4%
  • Mormon: 3.0%
  • Baptist: 2.7%
  • Pentecostal: 1.6%

LGBTQ+

Tucson is very welcoming to the LGBTQ+ population and though there aren’t any numbers to indicate the size of the gay and lesbian community, Tucson is rated as a very gay-friendly city. Tucson enacted anti-discrimination legislation back in the 1970s and that was the first step in making it a very welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community.


Wrap Up

Tucson is a great place to meet new people. Dating in Tucson is fun and laid-back, with plenty of people looking for love. The key to finding love in Tucson is getting out and taking advantage of the dating events while also working to find the right person online. There’s every reason to believe that you’ll find your match in Tucson.



chelsea king - chief editor of romancescams
Written by Chelsea King

Chelsea has been a direct victim of romance scams herself losing over $35,000 in a span of a year in 2015. She joined and took over operations of RomanceScams.org in 2015. She brings first-hand experience in studying romance scams, and also experience in vetting dating sites for legitimacy. Read more of Chelsea's articles.

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