HIGH POINT, N.C., Feb. 13, 2025 – Most North Carolinians still enjoy expressing their love and appreciation on Valentine’s Day. A majority of residents (54%) interviewed for the High Point University Poll see the gift-giving tradition of Valentine’s Day as a positive part of the holiday, while 22% see it as a negative. Another 23% are unsure.
When asked to rate the phrase “I enjoy the Valentine’s Day holiday” on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), two in five respondents (41%) said that they agreed (rating it a 5, 6 or 7). About one-third (33%) rated it as 4 (neither agree nor disagree), and just over one-quarter (27%) disagreed with the phrase and rated it a 3, 2 or 1.
Most poll respondents (59%) report only giving Valentine’s Day gifts to their romantic partner (if giving gifts at all), while 38% said they give Valentine’s Day gifts to family members, co-workers or friends.
A majority (53%) of North Carolinians say they are currently in a romantic relationship, while 43% say that they are not. The HPU Poll asked those participants in a relationship how satisfied they are with their current relationship.
A large majority of those in a relationship (81%) said they are either extremely or very satisfied with that relationship, while 16% indicated they are somewhat satisfied and only 4% said they are not too satisfied or not at all satisfied.
Nearly half (47%) of these same respondents said their relationship with their romantic partner stayed about the same in the last year. About two in five respondents (44%) said that it improved, and only 7% said it had gotten worse.
The poll asked those respondents currently not in a romantic relationship how interested they were in finding a romantic partner. Half (50%) said they are not at all or not very interested. Just under one-quarter (24%) said they are either very or extremely interested, and about one-third (30%) said that they were somewhat interested.
A majority of North Carolinians (61%) said the Valentine’s Day holiday has no influence on the closeness they feel to a romantic partner. A little over one-quarter (26%) said it increases how they feel, and only 6% said it decreases how they feel about their partner.
“While Valentine’s Day remains a cherished tradition for many in North Carolina, with 54% embracing the joy of gift-giving, the holiday’s influence on relationships is more subtle — 61% say it has no effect on their closeness with a partner,” said Natalie Hinson, research assistant for the HPU Poll. “Love, it seems, thrives beyond just one day of celebration.”
The HPU Poll asked adults in North Carolina about their use of online dating sites or apps. Of those surveyed, about two-thirds (70%) said they have not used an online dating site or app, and 30% indicated that they have used an online dating site or app. More than half (58%) do not personally know anyone who has been in a long-term relationship with or married someone they met through an online dating site or app, while 37% said that they do know someone.
North Carolina Residents – Enjoy Valentine’s Day (January 2025)
As you may know, the Valentine’s Day holiday is approaching. We would like to ask you some questions about your feelings towards the holiday. On a scale from one to seven, where one is “strongly disagree” and seven is “strongly agree,” how much do you agree with the statement, “I enjoy the Valentine’s Day holiday?”
1 – 12% (strongly disagree)
2 – 8%
3 – 7%
4 – 33% (do not agree or disagree)
5 – 15%
6 – 11%
7 – 15% (strongly agree)
North Carolina Residents – Current Relationship (January 2025)
Would you say you are currently in a romantic relationship or not?
Yes – 53%
No – 43%
Unsure – 4%
North Carolina Residents – Relationship Satisfaction (January 2025)
How satisfied are you with your current relationship – extremely, very, somewhat, not too, or not at all satisfied? [Asked only of the n=530 currently in a relationship]
Extremely satisfied – 54%
Very satisfied – 27%
Somewhat satisfied – 14%
Not too satisfied – 3%
Not at all satisfied – 1%
Unsure – 1%
North Carolina Residents – Relationship Interest (January 2025)
How interested are you in finding a romantic partner? [Asked only of n=426 currently not in a relationship]
Not at all interested – 32%
Not very interested – 18%
Somewhat interested – 27%
Very interested – 11%
Extremely interested – 9%
Unsure – 41%
North Carolina Residents – Relationship Strength (January 2025)
Overall, would you say your relationship with your romantic partner has improved, gotten worse, or stayed about the same in the last year? [Asked only of the n=579 currently in a relationship]
Improved – 44%
Stayed about the same – 47%
Gotten worse – 7%
Unsure – 1%
North Carolina Residents – Relationship Closeness (January 2025)
Generally speaking, do you find that Valentine’s Day increases, decreases, or has no influence on the closeness you feel to a romantic partner?
Increases – 26%
Decreases – 6%
Has no influence – 61%
Unsure – 7%
North Carolina Residents – Valentine’s Day Gift-Giving (January 2025)
Do you see the gift-giving tradition of Valentine’s Day as a positive or negative part of the holiday?
Positive – 54%
Negative – 22%
Unsure – 23%
North Carolina Residents – Other Gifts (January 2025)
Do you give gifts to people other than your romantic partner, such as family members, co-workers or friends, on Valentine’s Day?
Yes – 38%
No – 59%
Unsure – 4%
North Carolina Residents – Dating App (January 2025)
Have you ever used an online dating site or app?
Yes – 30%
No – 70%
North Carolina Residents – Dating App Relationship (January 2025)
Do you personally know anyone who has been in a long-term relationship with or married someone they met through an online dating site or app?
Yes – 37%
No – 58%
Unsure – 5%
HPU Poll 109 was fielded by the High Point University Survey Research Center on Jan. 16 through Jan. 26, as an online survey using a panel of respondents recruited and maintained by Dynata. Dynata sent invitations to its panel of North Carolina respondents and the SRC collected 1,000 responses (an all-adults sample) on its Qualtrics platform. All respondents were asked two screening questions to identify them as registered voters. A total of 839 respondents identified themselves as registered voters. The SRC did all data analysis. The online sample is from a panel of respondents, and their participation does not adhere to usual assumptions associated with random selection. Therefore, it is not appropriate to assign a classic margin of sampling error for the results. In this case, for the all-adults sample, the SRC provides a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points to account for a traditional 95% confidence interval for the estimates (plus or minus 3.1 percentage points) and a design effect of 1.03 (based on the weighting). The all-adults data is weighted toward population estimates for age, gender, race, ethnicity, and education based on U.S. Census numbers for North Carolina. The High Point University Survey Research Center (SRC) produces weights through an iterative procedure within SPSS. Factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional errors into the findings of opinion polls. Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past surveys can be found at the Survey Research Center website. Materials online include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010.
The HPU Poll reports methodological details in accordance with the standards set out by AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative, and the HPU Survey Research Center is a Charter Member of the Initiative.
Dr. Martin Kifer, chair and professor of political science, serves as the director of the HPU Poll for the Survey Research Center.
Natalie Hinson is a research assistant in the Survey Research Center.