Meeting Senior Singles

Senior Dating

Meeting Senior Singles for Free: 9 Tips for Online & In Your Area (2024)

Hayley Matthews

Written by: Hayley Matthews

Hayley Matthews

Hayley has over 10 years of experience overseeing content strategy, social media engagement, and article opportunities. She has also written hundreds of informational and entertaining blog posts. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Bustle, Cosmo, the Huffington Post, AskMen, and Entrepreneur. When she's not writing about dating news, relationship advice, or her fantasy love affair with Leonardo DiCaprio, she enjoys listening to The Beatles, watching Harry Potter reruns, and drinking IPAs.

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Edited by: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of journalism experience to ensure DatingAdvice articles have been edited for overall clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement. She has worked at The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Gwinnett Daily News, and The Gainesville Sun covering lifestyle topics.

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Meeting senior singles isn’t always a walk in the park. Sometimes it’s hard to know where or how to start again in the dating scene.

It’s been said that 50 is the new 40, but with advances in the health and technology fields, we’d say 60 is the new 50, and age doesn’t have to hold seniors back from living to the fullest.

The over-50 demographic is rapidly becoming more active in the online dating scene, and that’s been a wonderful thing to see. Thanks to modern technology, single seniors have more options than ever for making new friends and romantic connections, and we’ve reviewed the best ways to meet senior people who are single and in your age range. Whether you’re looking for dates online or offline, you’ll have no trouble expanding your social circle and staying on budget with these tips.

Online | In Your Area

Where to Meet Seniors Online (#1-3)

Getting online is hands down the fastest and easiest way to find a date or partner these days, and you don’t have to be an tech whiz to make it work for you. Below, we’ll walk you through what you need to know about online dating — from creating a dating profile to sending friend requests on social media.

1. Senior Dating Sites

Online dating was the new kid on the block in the 1990s, when getting set up on blind dates, meeting someone at work or through friends, or putting out a personal ad was the norm. While dating sites were seen with skepticism at first, people were soon drawn to its convenience and potential for romance.

Today, you’ve got almost 8,000 dating sites to choose from, and a significant number of them cater specifically to mature men and women. Here are our top three picks, all of which offer free memberships for singles:

★★★★★
4.9/5.0

Relationships: Friends, Dates, and Relationships

Match System: Browse by zip, age, appearance, more

Our Experts Say: “Match has more "over 50" members any other dating site, and it has a simple matching process that is responsible for millions of romantic connections...” Full Review »

Browse Free: View Photos Now

You’ll find more senior singles on Match than you will on any other dating site — because it has the largest user base (30 million members and 13.5 million visitors a month) and is the most trusted and successful (more dates, relationships, and marriages than its competitors). Match’s entire process (filling out your information, searching for and receiving matches, communicating, etc) is super intuitive, particularly because the layout is clean and well-organized.

★★★★★
4.8/5.0

Relationships: Casual Dates, Deep Relationships

Match System: Personality test suggests matches

Our Experts Say: “eharmony's simple compatibility matching system makes the site a popular choice for seniors seeking deep, long-term relationships...” Full Review »

Browse Free: View Photos Now

If you want a dating site to do all the heavy lifting for you, eharmony could be the one. After you sign up for an account and take an in-depth personality questionnaire, the site will find all of your matches and deliver the highly compatible suggestions directly to your inbox. Then you can view profiles, yay or nay them, and start messaging anyone who stands out to you. The eharmony matching system uses psychology to highlight the most compatible profiles in your vicinity.

★★★★★
4.8/5.0

Relationships: Serious Relationships

Match System: Search, Receive Partner Suggestions

Our Experts Say: “EliteSingles caters to highly educated single men and women, and it uses an advanced Fraud Detection System to make sure everyone is who they say they are...” Full Review »

Browse Free: View Photos Now

Placing an emphasis on education, EliteSingles is one of the highest-quality dating websites around. About 80% of its users have earned a college degree (bachelor’s, master’s, and/or doctorate). Plus, only 10% are under 30 years old, so you can rest assured that you’ll be in the company you want here. As a premium dating site, EliteSingles is design to create meaningful conversations and relationships.

2. Meetup.com

Meetup.com

is a great online resource for getting offline as soon as possible. Just search by an activity and/or your location. For example, we typed in the word senior, looked for meetups within 50 miles of New York City, and found hundreds of results — including “Travel and Dinner Group for Mature Adults” and “Senior Fitness for Life.” You could take matters into your own hands by starting your own meetup, too.

3. Facebook

A lot of single seniors have had luck on Facebook, and it has become even more viable a dating resource with the release of Facebook Dating.

The Facebook network allows people to reach out to people they once knew or people they’d like to get to know in a casual way. Pull out your yearbooks and start searching for your former classmates. You should probably have your high school listed on your profile so they can find you as well. You never know if talking about the good ol’ days could create a spark.

Where to Meet Seniors in Your Area (#4-9)

In addition to making use of the thousands of online resources that are out there, don’t neglect some of the more traditional ones. You want as many tools in your tool belt as you can manage.

4. Ask Family Members & Friends to Set You Up

You’re just one person, and you can only do so much. That’s why we always tell singles, no matter their age, to recruit some help from their loved ones and colleagues. Tell them you’re single and looking, and then have them put some feelers out.

You would do the same if you were in need of a job, right? You should do the same for your personal life. It’s not desperate — it’s smart dating.

5. Join a Senior Community Center

More than likely, there are a ton of senior activities available where you live, and more than likely, they’re 100% free. You just have to know what to look for. Check out your chamber of commerce or city’s website or latest newsletter or call them up to see what they have going on. Newspapers also post about this kind of stuff all the time, and usually, your options range from arts and crafts to music and sports leagues.

6. If You Attend Church, Take a Look at the Other Members

One of our favorite tips for helping singles meet people is to tell them to do something they already do, like attend church, but look at it in a different way. Not only is your church a place for you to worship, but it’s also a venue for finding companionship.

The next time you see someone you don’t know, ask a friend to introduce you or sit next to them on Sunday morning and strike up a conversation. You should also look into taking part in choir, a mission trip, or another activity that isn’t a Sunday service.

7. Try Volunteering for a Cause You Care About

If you’re philanthropically inclined, volunteering for a cause that’s near and dear to your heart is a good way to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. You’ll be doing something positive for your community, and you’ll be interacting with new people.

Deliver dinners with Meals on Wheels, give dogs baths at your local animal shelter, read to children battling cancer — whatever it is, think about a cause that you’ll be passionate about and that will put you in front of those who have similar values. We love VolunteerMatch because it’s sort of like the dating site of volunteering.

8. Go to the Gym for Senior-Related Classes

The gym isn’t just for getting in shape and staying healthy — it’s also a magnet for finding a date. But don’t just get on the elliptical and put your headphones in. The classes are where you want to be. Most gyms have classes that are exclusively for mature men and women and that are free or include discounts. So it should be easy to break the ice because you already have that in common.

A fun activity can lift your spirits and help you meet senior people at the same time, so don’t hesitate to get out there. Give things like water aerobics, yoga, or Zumba a chance to entertain you and introduce you to local singles. Also, pickleball is very popular right now if you’re a fan of tennis-like sports and want to get some exercise with a potential partner.

9. Get a Part-Time Job That’s Popular Among Mature People

Retirement is wonderful because it’s relaxing and you can do whatever you want, but retirement can also make it harder for single seniors to meet others. You’re less likely to plan happy hours with co-workers and make connections via customers, so you have to find another way to fill that void. A part-time job could be the way to go.

Bagging groceries at the grocery store and dedicating some time helping out at the library are popular choices among this age group. But Bankrate also has an awesome list of part-time jobs for retirees and seniors that you might not have thought of.

Broaden Your Horizons & Meet Single Seniors Simultaneously!

“Age is just a number” may be an overused saying, but it really is true. We get to dictate the age we feel and the choices we make for the future. This mindset can help senior singles have the dating life they want and deserve, and we hope our tips for meeting senior singles can help too.

Unlike some stereotypical movies suggest, bingo isn’t the only senior activity that’s out there (even though that’s a lot of fun, too), and there are plenty of dating sites, activities, and groups geared toward the senior community. We wish you lots of luck out there!

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