Online dating statistics in the U.S.

Start with who has tried it and who uses it now

SSRS found that 37% of U.S. adults had ever used a dating site or app in January 2026, while 6% said they were using one at the time. The first figure is a lifetime history question; the second is a current-use question. People who left online dating after meeting someone still count in the 37%. The 6% includes only those who answered that they were using a service then, without measuring daily activity. Neither percentage is the share of singles on an app. Both come from a survey of all adults, including people who were not looking for a partner.

In SSRS's published series, past use was 37% in 2024, 39% in 2025, and 37% in 2026. Current use was 7%, 7%, and 6% across those same surveys. That short run does not establish a strong directional trend; sampling variation and question context matter, especially for a one-point change. It also should not be spliced without care to Pew's 2022 estimate of 30% past use. Pew and SSRS used different panels and field dates. The 2026 SSRS result is the best single answer in this overview for its named question and year.

A national average hides age and identity patterns

The 37% national past-use rate sits between different age groups in SSRS's 2026 survey. Past use was 51% among adults ages 18 to 29, 53% among ages 30 to 49, and 20% among adults 50 and older. Current use was 10%, 8%, and 2% in those groups. Each percentage is within the named age group. The figures cannot tell you the average age of a dating-app user or the number of suitable people nearby. They show that the answer changes when you narrow the crowd, a useful warning against applying the national rate to a person's local pool.

SSRS also reported past use of 63% among LGBTQIA+ adults and 34% among adults who did not identify as LGBTQIA+. Current use was 14% and 4%, respectively. Those categories come from SSRS's identity question and should not be treated as interchangeable with Pew's narrower lesbian, gay, and bisexual category in 2022. The identity figures describe the proportion within each named group who used online dating, not the identity composition of an app's members. A national subgroup rate can reveal a broad difference while still leaving platform-level and local questions unanswered.

Which sites people had tried

Among SSRS respondents with past online-dating experience in 2026, 48% had used Tinder. Plenty of Fish and Facebook Dating each reached 30%, Bumble 27%, and Hinge and Match 21% each. The list is a history of platforms tried, not a live market-share table. Respondents could name more than one site or app, so adding the rows would count many people more than once. The survey also cannot tell how often each person used a named service or whether they paid for it. Put 'among past users' next to each service percentage when repeating the list.

The mix changes by age: SSRS found Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge most often named among past users ages 18 to 29, while Plenty of Fish, Match, and Facebook Dating were the top three among past users 50 and older. That does not make any service the best choice for every member of an age band. History of trying an app can be influenced by when someone was single, what was available then, and more than one account over time. Check current free access and local profiles if your goal is to choose a platform; use the survey to understand broad national use.

Why people used it, and what they reported afterward

When SSRS asked past users for their main reason for using online dating in 2026, 58% named finding an exclusive romantic partner. The question asked for a main reason, not everything a person wanted from an app. Users also reported other reasons, including fun or casual encounters. A statistic about intention should not be read as a count of successful relationships. The finding does show that an exclusive partner was the most common main reason in this survey, which may surprise readers who see online dating described only as casual.

In a separate SSRS question, 50% of past users said they had at some time been in a committed relationship with someone met through a dating site or app. That includes relationships that ended. Pew's 2022 figure that 10% of currently partnered adults met their current partner on a site or app begins with a different group and asks about one present relationship. The 50% and 10% are both valid for their questions. They cannot be averaged, and the difference does not measure how many app relationships lasted. The current-partner page develops that distinction in more detail.

SSRS asked past users for their view of online dating's effect on their own dating and relationships. In 2026, 47% said the effect had been neither positive nor negative, 33% mostly positive, and 20% mostly negative. That is a perceived effect, separate from the question about why they joined and separate from whether they ever formed a committed relationship. The most common answer was the middle one. Reading all three questions together gives a more measured picture than a headline that treats a goal, an opinion, and an outcome as if they were successive stages experienced by every respondent.

Safety figures ask different questions

SSRS asked all adults in 2026 about the safety of meeting in person someone first encountered through online dating. Fifty-seven percent described that meeting as generally safe, while 43% did not. Pew asked all adults in 2022 whether dating sites and apps were a safe way to meet people; 48% called them safe and 49% unsafe. These questions differ in wording, year, and sample. The nine-point gap between the two positive figures is not a measured improvement in safety. Both are opinions rather than counts of what happened to users.

Pew separately asked past users about four unwanted behaviors in 2022, and 48% reported at least one. The equal-looking 48% safety-opinion and behavior figures have different populations and meanings. Harassment, scams, and safety views also require different actions and evidence. A person trying to assess a platform should read its current safety tools and trusted guidance, while a person checking a claim about national attitudes should name the exact survey question. The overview table keeps those measures in separate rows so the word 'safety' does not flatten them into one score.

Use the overview as a map to the right question

SSRS interviewed 2,012 U.S. adults in January 2026; its full-sample margin of error was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. Pew interviewed 6,034 in July 2022. Both organizations used national survey designs, but a figure from a small subgroup is less precise than the full-sample figure and two surveys need not align perfectly. The table here labels each count with the group and year. It is a starting point, not a pool of numbers to combine. The source links let you check the question wording when a claim sounds too broad.

Choose a follow-up article based on the measure you need. The age and demographics pages unpack who reported past or current use. The experience page covers overall user ratings; the harassment page covers specific unwanted behavior. The couples page asks how current partners met. None of these percentages can predict what will happen to one person. They do make a crowded search result easier to read: when the date, population, and question stay attached, several different online-dating statistics can be true at once without saying the same thing.