Last summer, Winston Jules spent his weekends taking dates to nice New York City restaurants and bars with $20 cocktails.
These days, the 26-year-old Brooklyn resident might opt for a picnic in Prospect Park. The medical receptionist lives with his mother and helps pay rent -- one of his biggest expenses -- and is looking for savings where he can find them, including on the dating scene.
"I've gone on a little walk just to get to know each other, or got ice cream," Jules said, recounting some recent experiences. He's cut back on dating in general, too, along with fewer meals and other adventures with friends.
"I've kind of been sacrificing being social lately just to be financially stable," he said.
For young Americans, casual dating is as easy as swiping right on an app, but prices can quickly add up. A BMO Financial Group survey conducted over about a month, starting at the end of December, put the average cost of a U.S. date at $189. That number -- which covers things like an outfit, transportation and dinner -- rose 12.5% from the same period the prior year.
According to BMO, among Gen Z and millennial daters, 50% and 40%, respectively, said that these costs interfere with their financial goals.
There is some good news on the cost front: The overall pace of inflation slowed in June after getting pumped up by the Iran war's effect on gasoline prices. So-called core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.6% from a year earlier and were flat from the prior month -- the first month without an increase in more than five years.
Yet prices for some typical date-related activities like restaurant meals and tickets to events have recently been rising at a faster clip. Prices for full-service meals and snacks, for example, are up 3.7% over the past year, federal data show.
Mindful of high costs, Kay Lee, 25, and Miguel Aragon, 27, opted for a walk through Prospect Park on a recent weekend date. They grabbed some coffee afterward: Lee said hers cost $7.
"We're young people in New York, I think we're all just kind of in this rough economy," said Lee, a freelance graphic designer who rents an apartment in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood. Aragon, who works in audio for a production house, said he recently moved to neighboring Bedford-Stuyvesant from Manhattan to save on rent.
"I just like chill dates that are kind of neutral and cost-efficient too, " he said. The couple is now planning a pricier date out -- to see the movie "Obsession" at a local theater.
The dating app Hinge, where more than half the users are Gen Z members, launched a feature in April where users can list three date options. As of June 30, the most popular options included a mix of potentially pricey outings, but also some cheap ones: "Drinks, coffee & tea, dinner, and a walk," according to Hinge.
Meanwhile, users also wrote in some budget-conscious options like heading to the beach, playing board games and stargazing, according to Hinge.
Not all young people like the concept of a cheap date. Kimberly Bizu, 29, who founded the media platform Rich Little Brokegirls, draws a line: "If you don't have money for a date, you should not be dating," she said.
Surveys have shown that men dating women still often feel inclined to pick up the tab for a night out. The BMO report found nearly three in four men expect to pay for everything when on a date early in a relationship.
Janna Singleton, a 25-year-old in Dallas, said she likes to let men choose the initial date plan, since their money is on the line, though she also likes to start casual and informal. "A first date is just supposed to test the waters, see if you like the person that you're with, " she said.
New York City, where exorbitant rents suck up much of young residents' income, is both a very expensive place to date and filled with outdoor options for meetups on the cheap.
Tamia Austin, 23, who lives on Long Island, recently strolled through Prospect Park on a first date with Raheem Shabbaz, 22. They also grabbed a coffee in downtown Brooklyn and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.
"In this economy and specifically living in New York, everything is more expensive -- the cost of living, the taxes -- than where I'm originally from," said Austin, a Michigan native who works as an environmental health and safety specialist.
For their date this weekend, the pair plan to attend a soccer watch party and continue exploring the city together.
Write to Sanai Hadiya Rashid at Sanai.Rashid@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 17, 2026 11:57 ET (15:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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