How to Meet People if You're From Sultan, Washington
If you're from Sultan, Washington, you know the feeling: you open a dating app, scroll through the options, and you've seen everyone before. Sultan is a city of about 7,200 people in Snohomish County, Washington, and a pool that size only goes so far.
Sultan in numbers
| Population (2025 estimate) | 7,230 |
|---|---|
| County | Snohomish County |
| Change since 2020 | +39.9% |
| Size rank in Washington | 108 of 281 cities and towns |
| Larger than | 62% of Washington's cities and towns |
| Other cities and towns within 30 miles | 39 (1,147,000 people combined) |
| Nearest city of 25,000 or more (OR, ID, WA, MT) | Lake Stevens, Washington: 16 miles (42,000 people) |
Population estimates by year:
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,170 | 5,660 | 6,225 | 6,530 | 6,973 | 7,230 |
Why dating close to home runs out
Add up every incorporated city and town within 30 miles of Sultan and you get 39 places with about 1,147,000 people between them, not counting Sultan itself. Within 60 miles it's 91 places and about 3,295,000 people. Those totals count incorporated places only, so people outside city limits would add to them, but the point stands: an app that starts with whoever lives closest builds your options from a small circle, so you keep seeing the same few profiles.
| Distance from Sultan | Other cities and towns | People in them |
|---|---|---|
| Within 10 miles | 2 | 22,586 |
| Within 30 miles | 39 | 1,146,836 |
| Within 60 miles | 91 | 3,294,854 |
| Within 100 miles | 138 | 3,794,461 |
Why Lake Stevens is out of reach for you on the big apps
Say you live in Sultan and want to meet someone in Lake Stevens, 16 miles away. On a distance-ranked app, that person is shown their own neighborhood first, then the next one out, and Sultan is 16 miles down that line, behind a city of about 42,000. Tinuiti's analysis of Tinder's algorithm says proximity is a key factor in who it shows you, and any app that sorts by distance works the same way. You haven't done anything wrong. You live in the wrong place for the ranking.
Lake Stevens has about 6 times as many people as Sultan, so a member from Sultan is outnumbered there roughly 6 to 1 before the ranking even starts. There are 10 other incorporated places closer to Lake Stevens than Sultan is, with about 334,000 people between them, and they tend to come ahead of you in Lake Stevens's deck.
On Amarbis, ranking isn't based on distance. Choose Washington as your region and Lake Stevens is in your pool with everyone else in Washington, so you aren't placed behind the person's next-door neighbor because of where you live.
Bigger places within reach of Sultan, each with its own guide:
- Lake Stevens, WA: 42,091 people, 16 miles away
- Everett, WA: 113,567 people, 19 miles away
- Redmond, WA: 82,506 people, 20 miles away
- Bothell, WA: 52,199 people, 20 miles away
- Marysville, WA: 77,686 people, 22 miles away
How region-based dating changes it
Amarbis lets you choose the region you meet people from. Instead of being limited to whoever lives closest to Sultan, you can meet people across all of Washington, which has about 8.0 million people, roughly 1,100 times as many as live in Sultan. And because Amarbis has no distance limits, you aren't limited to Washington either.
Other places near Sultan
- Gold Bar, WA: 2,561 people, 5 miles away
- Monroe, WA: 20,025 people, 8 miles away
- Duvall, WA: 9,440 people, 12 miles away
- Snohomish, WA: 10,719 people, 14 miles away
- Lake Stevens, WA: 42,091 people, 16 miles away
- Carnation, WA: 2,471 people, 16 miles away
Browse every city and town in Washington.
Other places in Snohomish County
Snohomish County has 19 incorporated places with 472,046 people between them. Nearby places in the county include:
- Gold Bar: 2,561 people, 5 miles away
- Monroe: 20,025 people, 8 miles away
- Snohomish: 10,719 people, 14 miles away
- Lake Stevens: 42,091 people, 16 miles away
- Granite Falls: 4,686 people, 17 miles away
- Everett: 113,567 people, 19 miles away
- Mill Creek: 20,902 people, 19 miles away
- Marysville: 77,686 people, 22 miles away
How to start from Sultan
- Create a free profile with a clear photo of your face. Every photo on Amarbis is screened, and every profile is reviewed by a real person.
- Choose the region you want to meet people from. Starting with all of Washington gives you the widest local pool.
- Open with a specific question rather than "hey", then decide whether a meeting is worth the drive. When you're ready to meet, read how to meet safely first.
It costs nothing to look. Amarbis gives you 25 free likes a day, unlimited messaging with your matches and built-in chat translation (5 free translations a month), with no credit card needed. Start at Amarbis.
More from Amarbis
- Why Amarbis is the best dating app for small towns
- Singles in the United States
- International dating guide
- Overcoming language barriers in love
- Meeting someone safely for the first time
- Plans and pricing
Population figures are U.S. Census Bureau estimates for July 1, 2025. Distances are straight-line miles between place center points, so road distances are longer. Counts of nearby places include incorporated cities and towns in Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Montana only.