Regensburg is still the single capital of Germany. As in previous years, nowhere else in 2022 were more people living alone than in the city in the Upper Palatinate. This is what the market research institute GfK found out. Accordingly, the proportion of one-person households was 52.7 percent – and thus significantly above the nationwide proportion of 40.9 percent. Erlangen, Leipzig, Nuremberg and Augsburg followed in the other places.
The title of singles capital of Rhineland-Palatinate goes to Trier. The proportion of one-person households is by far the highest there and, at 50.1 percent, is also well above the national figure. Thus, the city on the Moselle occupies one of the first places in a Germany-wide comparison – namely eighth place. Michael Schmitz from the city of Trier explains this on the one hand with the students, who make up the majority of the younger single-person households under 30. On the other hand, many people over 60 lived alone.
Especially many singles in university towns
Some distance behind Trier, Koblenz (46.6 percent) and Kaiserslautern (45.6 percent) come in second and third place respectively among the cities with the most people living alone in Rhineland-Palatinate. Here, too, it is reasonable to assume that the universities have an influence on the fact that many young people live there, and living alone suits their lifestyle better. For the Mayor of Koblenz, David Langner, this result is therefore not surprising: “University cities are actually known for an above-average proportion of singles.” In addition, the age structure also comes into play in Koblenz. “No other city has such a high proportion of very old people as Koblenz – and they often live in single households,” says Langner.
More families live in the counties
The district of Alzey-Worms, on the other hand, is almost at the bottom of the list. Alzey-Worms is ranked 397th out of 400 cities and districts nationwide from the statistics. The majority of people live there in multi-person households, so that the proportion of single dwellings is just 30.6 percent.
Laura Homberger from the district administration suspects that this mainly has to do with the geographical location: “The district of Alzey-Worms borders on the catchment area of the Rhine-Main area in the north and on that of the Rhine-Neckar area in the south. As a result, many employees/families are moving to the district.” In addition, the district still has “moderate building land prices and an adequate supply of building land” compared to these areas, which is why numerous apartment buildings have been built in recent years. The proportion of single households in the Donnersberg district (31.0 percent) and in Kusel (31.3 percent) is similarly low as in Alzey-Worms. In the Southwest Palatinate, too, most people live under one roof with several people. Nationwide, there are the fewest single households in the Cloppenburg district in Lower Saxony.
Regensburg attracts young people
Overall, a look at the statistics makes it clear: “With single households, the cities are always higher,” says GfK press spokeswoman Eva Böhm. The first district – Goslar in Lower Saxony – only came in 57th place in the ranking. Böhm cannot say exactly why Regensburg has been the number one capital for singles for years.
The press spokeswoman for the city of Regensburg can also only speculate, but explains the phenomenon mainly with the fact that the city attracts a particularly large number of students and younger people who do not yet want to start a family thanks to its three universities. In addition, it is typical for such “swarm cities” like Regensburg “that above all young professionals (age group 25 to 34 years) immigrate”. These too often lived in single households.
