If you’re a single man looking for a single woman in Lawrence, good news: The odds are in your favor.

And if you’re a single woman looking for a single man, good news for you, too: Those odds are better here than most other places.

According to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Monday, there are 95.8 single men in Douglas County for every 100 unmarried women — seemingly giving men a slight advantage in the hunt for a mate.

Not that it necessarily works out that way.

“Could’ve fooled me,” said Andy Hom, a single 27-year-old coffee shop manager, when told of the ratio. “I haven’t personally experienced that discrepancy.”

Compared with the situation elsewhere, though, Douglas County is relatively balanced.

In Kansas, for example, the ratio is 88 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women, the census reported. And nationally, there are 85.6 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women.

Maybe the Lawrence area’s tighter ratio explains why Tracy Taylor hasn’t found her romantic aspirations inhibited — despite seeing far more women than men in her classes at Kansas University.

“I think it’s pretty easy to find guys,” the 19-year-old woman said. “It doesn’t bother me.”

Kansas University professor Dennis Dailey, who teaches a popular — if occasionally controversial — class on human sexuality, said the disparity in Douglas County was “negligible,” especially when compared to the situation in countries like China, where there are 100 unmarried men for every 30 unmarried women.

Kansas University junior Maria Scarpello, left, from Omaha, Neb., naps with her boyfriend, Brian Devine, a junior from Olathe. New census numbers show there are 100 single women for every 95.8 single men in Douglas County, more equitable odds than elsewhere in the state.

And besides, he said, numbers can’t tell the whole story about love. Not every single person is looking for a marriage partner, and not everybody seeking a relationship is looking to the opposite sex.

“Then the other factors kick in — are you attracted to him?” Dailey said. “Do you share values? Is he a turd? Those questions mean more than the ratio.”

The data released Monday were from the Census 2000 and measured the marital status of every person over the age of 15. Federal, state and local governments use the numbers to assess housing and service needs.

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The unmarried ratio was not broken down by age groups, meaning the number includes those presumably too young to have given marriage much thought and those whose marriages might have ended with a death or divorce.

Thanks to the young population at Kansas University, the Lawrence area has a higher proportion of single people than elsewhere in the state. The census showed that 47.8 percent of Douglas County residents had never been married, compared with 24.1 percent in Kansas and 27.1 percent nationally.

Some Lawrence women weren’t quite sure Monday what to make of the disparity between single women and single men.

New U.S. Census numbers show that there are 100 single women for every 95 single men in Lawrence, which makes the city one of the better in Kansas and the United States for women seeking mates. Walking together downtown Monday, from left, are friends Meredith Van Loenen, Lawrence High School senior; Brandon McGuire, Wichita State freshman from Lawrence, and LHS senior Katie Franz.

“If you’re looking to get into a relationship, that’s a problem,” said 20-year-old Katie Burnside.

She thought a second. “Or not,” she added.

But Dailey said not to worry.

“I think there’s enough available men,” he said. “I think those who seek partnerships in Lawrence have options.”