Short King ReportData brief · Dating market

Methodology

How the model works, and what it can't do.

The report is a transparent model, not a black box. Here is exactly what happens to the four numbers you give us, and where the model reaches the edge of what the research supports.

The inputs

Four values: height, weight in pounds, annual income in US dollars, and age. Nothing else, and nothing is stored beyond generating your report.

Step 1 · Height percentile

US adult men have a mean height of about 5'9" (69 inches) with a standard deviation near 2.9 inches. We map your height to a percentile using the normal distribution. This part is not modeled attractiveness, it is simply how tall you are relative to other men.

Step 2 · The height desirability curve

We translate height into relative dating-market response using a curve calibrated to the published spread: taller men (around 6'3" to 6'4") receive roughly 65% more first-contact messages than men around 5'5" to 5'6"; a 6' man draws close to twice the response of a sub-5'9" man; men under 5'9" see markedly fewer matches. The curve is steep through the 5'6" to 6'2" range and flattens above, matching where the research says the returns taper. We anchor to those published ratios rather than inventing precision the data doesn't support.

Step 3 · Income to effective height

This is the actionable core. Hitsch, Hortacsu and Ariely found that income and height substitute for each other in women's responses at roughly $40,000 per inch (their figure: a 5'6" man needed about $226,000 more than a 5'11.5" man). We convert your income above a reference point into "effective inches" and add them to your height, capped at a sensible range so the model stays honest at the extremes.

Step 4 · BMI band

We compute your BMI from height and weight. Male physical attractiveness peaks in the BMI 23 to 27 band, around 25. Inside the band there is no penalty (a small bonus near 25); outside it, a penalty scaled by distance, steeper above the band than below. We then report the exact weight change to reach BMI 24. For many men this is the fastest available lever.

Step 5 · Estimated position

Combining the effective-height score with the BMI adjustment gives an estimated dating-market percentile among men. Age is used lightly, mainly to frame your income against age peers, since the men's market tends to hold or rise from the thirties into the forties.

This is an estimate, said plainly. The percentile is a model output built on population-level findings, not a measurement of you as an individual. Two men with identical numbers can have very different real-world results. Treat it as a compass bearing, not a GPS pin.

What the model does not capture

In other words, the model measures a slice of the market's initial filter, and it is honest about being a slice. The value is that the slice it measures is the one you can move with money and fitness, and it tells you by how much.

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