The number of users on online dating apps and sites continues to increase.
Even though dating apps have been around for a lot longer than five years, they have exploded in popularity since 2016, when there were 240.9 million dating app users worldwide. In 2021, that number jumped up to 323.9 million users.1
In a recent study, 19% of internet users in the United States claimed they were currently using an online dating app or platform. Even more interesting, a further 27% of participants claimed to have used an online dating app in the past.2
Percent of Americans Who Have Used Dating Sites
The youngest folks who use dating apps — those from 18 to 29 years old — have a strong preference for Tinder. Given the platform’s playful style and a user preference for less serious flings, this may not be that much of a surprise. To add to this, Tinder is free, though it does have a paid plan.
Users from 30 to 64 years old prefer Match.com, a platform that’s somewhat more serious than Tinder. Users over 65 (only 20% of whom use dating apps) prefer either eHarmony or religious dating sites, tied at 4% each.2
According to Pew Research, 55% of LGBTQ adults said they have used a dating app, compared to 28% of straight adults. About 21% of LGBTQ online daters say they’ve either been in a committed relationship with or married someone they met through a dating platform, compared to just 11% of straight users.7
More than half of LGBTQ adults have used an online dating app or dating site.
There is no significant variation when it comes to the race of online dating platform users, with 29% of white people, 31% of black people and 28% of Hispanic people having used a dating app.7
Some 42% of users aim for marriage by using online dating sites. When we consider how many people look at online dating as a “nothing serious” type of deal, this is a fairly surprising statistic. If you use online dating apps to find a marriage partner, you have millions of potential matches.2
Although 42% of dating site users aim for marriage, only 13% get engaged or married from the platform.
Only 13% of users got engaged or married from meeting someone on a dating site, though. Meanwhile, 23.7% claim that they’ve never had more than a date or two. Nearly 15% had a relationship that lasted less than six months, 7.2% had a relationship between six months and a year and 14.7% had a relationship that lasted more than a year.8
Relationship Results From Online Dating
The majority of American online daters — 54% — say relationships from dating platforms are as successful as in-person meetings. Out of the remaining 46%, 5% say that such relationships are more successful than relationships that started in person, leaving only 41% who think online relationships are less likely to last.
This goes to show that in recent years, people are feeling more confident about the possibility of a successful relationship that stems from online dating apps.6
Online Dating Relationships vs Meeting In-Person
This doesn’t really surprise us, but given the stigma that online dating doesn’t lead to serious relationships, this is a rather low number. It means that as many as 74% of users of online dating platforms are looking for some kind of commitment. This is reflected in the rise of more commitment-oriented apps like Bumble and Hinge.2
Have you ever talked to more than two people at the same time on a dating platform and found it overwhelming? How about 11 or more people? Up to 19% of users have talked to at least 11 at once, which is honestly impressive.
From the same research by Healthy Framework, we can see that a quarter of users talk to four or five people at once. A further 23% talk to 2 or 3 people. Only 11% of users talk to a single person at a time on dating apps, and 8% don’t talk to anyone.2
A quarter of users talk to four or five users at a time.
Out of online dating users, 76% of women and 83% of men have met in person with someone they first talked to online. Out of all participants, 28% of men and 34% of women aimed to go on at least one date, whereas 25% of men and 21% of women hoped for a long-term romance. 17% of men and 24% of women haven’t met anyone.2
Just how much information you include on your dating profile can make a huge difference in how many matches you get. According to the Pew Research Center, this is more important if you’re seeking to match with women. About 72% of women think it’s essential to list the type of relationship you’re looking for, compared to 53% of men.
When it comes to personal information, 32% of women and 18% of men want to know about a match’s religious beliefs, and 27% of women and 8% of men are curious about the other person’s occupation. Height seems to be a factor as well: 22% of women but only 8% of men want to know how tall a potential match is.
Political affiliation appears to be the least important thing at just 18% for women and 10% for men.6
Three-quarters of women think it’s important to list the type of relationship you’re looking for.
Almost a third of online daters — 29% — don’t want to waste any time to meet matches. An almost equal 28% prefer to start by sharing some basic information such as work, hobbies and interests, etc.
About 23% claim that small talk is enough to decide whether they’re going to meet someone in person, with 15% wanting to get to know their match very well on a personal level before they meet.2
Almost half of users said it was somewhat easy to find matches who shared their hobbies or interests, while only 6% reported that it was very difficult.
Another 43% of users said it was somewhat easy to find people they were physically attracted to, and 46% said it was somewhat easy to find someone they wanted to meet in person. Meanwhile, 18% reported that it was very easy to find such a person.6
Half of people dating online say it’s easy to find people with shared hobbies.
Out of the 98% of users who claim to be truthful, 60% say that they always tell the truth, whereas 38% claim to be truthful “often.”
On the other hand, 38% of men and 30% of women claim to have been catfished at some point. Catfishing is a deceptive activity where users pretend to be someone they’re not by faking images and personal information. Catfishers do not always believe themselves to be catfishers, and don’t always admit it even if they do identify with the label.2
While we’re on the subject of catfishing, 71% of online daters think that lying to appear more desirable is a very common occurrence. Half even believe that people set up fake accounts for the purpose of scamming victims.7
If you’ve never been a victim of a romance scam, consider yourself lucky. People use dating apps to make victims think they want a relationship, only to ask their love struck marks for money — usually under the pretense that they can’t continue the relationship without financial assistance. These scams cost users a total of $75 million in 2016, a figure that grew to a whopping $304 million in 2020.
The most frequent methods scammers use to get money are gift cards and wire transfers, and the median amount in 2020 was a staggering $2,500. The most significant increase in reports filed was among 20- to 29-year-olds, where numbers doubled from 2019 to 2020.
People aged 40 to 69 were most likely to report losing money to a romance scam, whereas those aged 70 and above reported the highest individual median losses, at around $9,500 per person.9
People 40 to 69 years old were most likely to report losing money to a romance scam.
When you’re talking to people you’ve never met in real life, you probably expect some unpleasant experiences to happen. Statistics support that expectation, but there’s a striking discrepancy between genders, with women being subjected to inappropriate encounters much more often.
One-quarter of men and 42% of women were contacted on a dating site or app in a way that made them uncomfortable, with 20% of men and 32% of women receiving unwanted inappropriate pictures.
Approximately 26% of men and 32% of women claimed to have feared for their safety at some point, with 23% of men and 39% of women going so far as to block someone completely or report them to the dating site or app.2
Both female online dating users and male users experience unpleasant interactions on dating sites or apps.
In addition to 45% of users saying they felt frustrated from online dating, 35% say dating platforms made them feel pessimistic, and 25% say using the platform made them feel insecure.
Meanwhile, 28% say dating platforms make them feel hopeful, 29% say they make them feel optimistic and 32% say they make them feel confident.6
This helps put into perspective just how many users aren’t exactly thrilled with using online dating platforms. It’s safe to assume that users may not feel good about themselves if they’re seeing too many people they consider to be out of their league, or if they don’t get as many matches as they expected.
From 2015 to 2017, online dating site and app revenue struggled to breach the $2 billion mark. In 2018, revenue hit $2.38 billion, only to keep growing to reach a staggering $5.61 billion in 2021.
With COVID and lockdowns making physical outings difficult, we aren’t surprised that the years 2020 and 2021 witnessed a $1.79 billion jump in revenue.1
Tinder has become synonymous with online dating, though industry competition is certainly fierce. In January 2022, the platform had 32% of the U.S. market, followed by Bumble (22%), Hinge (15%), Plenty of Fish (15%), Grindr (7%), Badoo (6%), OKCupid (4%), Match.com (4%) and Zoosk (2%).1
However, it’s clear that both Hinge and Bumble are eating into Tinder’s market share. Back then, Hinge only had 3% of monthly active users (MAUs), whereas Bumble hovered around 13%. For both platforms, this is a significant growth in MAUs.3
Top Online Dating Sites Portion of US Users
In the same report by Sensor Tower, we can see rapid growth in the user bases of both Hinge and Bumble over the last three years. Bumble notes a 96% increase in monthly users since January 2019, whereas that same statistic for Hinge is an impressive 344%.
The number of monthly Tinder users, however, has decreased by 1%. Bumble was founded in 2014, whereas Hinge’s initial release was a year earlier, in 2013. Tinder, which launched initially in 2012, has seen much larger growth than both platforms.3
Even though it’s number one in the U.S., Tinder comes in second place globally. Instead, Badoo is the world’s most downloaded dating app, having over 400 million users.1
If you’ve ever felt that users seeking men have a lot more options on dating apps, this statistic might make you feel validated. As 67% of Tinder users are men, that means that only 33% are women. While it’s true that you only need one person if you’re looking for commitment, this does allow those interested in men to be a bit more picky.2
User Gender Percentages on Tinder
If you’re looking for a more equal split than Tinder’s two-to-one ratio, Match.com might be the platform for you. It boasts an even split, with plenty of high-quality singles in both camps.2
Even though we mentioned fierce competition, much of it is friendly. Match Group, the parent company of Tinder, also owns Hinge, Match.com, OK Cupid and Plenty of Fish, among others. In fact, Match Group owned six of the top 10 dating apps by revenue in 2020.4
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