Masturbation Statistics in the US

Nelsi Diaz
Nelsi Diaz
— 2 min read
Masturbation Statistics in the US

Key Takeaways

  • 36.2% of women and 36.7% of men reported masturbating to relieve stress — nearly equal between genders (2022)[5]
  • 60% of men masturbated in the prior month vs. 36.5% of women (2021)[5]
  • Globally, 78% of adults report masturbating. In the US, it's 92% of men and 76% of women (2018)[6]
  • Young men (25–29) are especially active, according to data collected by FiveThirtyEight (2014)[7]
  • 81% of Americans have masturbated while in a relationship (2020)[8]
  • 13% of people report masturbating every day (2020)[8]
  • Among LGBT women, 44% masturbate multiple times per week (2015)[9]
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1 in 4 adults has also masturbated using an online AI-powered app, like HeraHaven (2025) [10]

How Many Americans Masturbate?

  • 89.6% of U.S. men (18+) say they’ve masturbated at least once in their life—and 60.1% did so in the past month (2023)[4]
  • Only 10.4% of American men report they’ve never masturbated (2023)[4]
  • Mixed sample: 88% of women and 96% of men (across Europe + U.S., 16% of whom were American) have masturbated (2025)[2]

Typical Frequency

  • Men’s past-year pattern: 9.9% almost daily; 17.1% 2–3×/week; 8.9% once a week; 16.1% a few times/month; 6.4% once/month; 24.2% never in that year (2023)[4]
  • Women (PureWow readers, 18–75+): 85% masturbate at least once a week; 33% do it 3+ times per week, and 6.2% say “all the time” (2023)[1]

Age of First Masturbation (Males)

  • By age 14, 62.6% of American boys have tried it (2023)[4]
  • By 17, the figure rises to 80%; overall teen prevalence is 73.8% (2023)^[4]

Reasons & Self-Care Benefits

  • Top male motives: pleasure 65.6 %, horniness 54.3 %, stress relief 36.7 %, relaxation 26.6 %, and better sleep 21.4 % (2023)[4]
  • Pandemic self-care (U.S. sample within TENGA): 65% said masturbation made them feel better, and 40% increased frequency under lockdown (2021)[3]

Sex Toy Adoption & Session Length

  • About ½ of Americans surveyed by TENGA have used a sex toy; 20 % bought additional toys during the pandemic, and 8 % bought their first (2021)[3]
  • 40% of women and 10% of men say toys improve orgasm quality (2025)[2]
  • Average solo session length (mixed sample): women 13 min, men 14 min (2023)[4]

Attitudes & Trade‑Trade-Offs

  • of Americans would rather give up sex than masturbation for a month (2021)[3]
  • Among PureWow’s “Super-Users,” age and relationship status had no effect—18- to 75-year-olds, single or married, all show up in the heavy-masturbation bracket (2023.[1]

Education Gap

  • In national data, only 28% recall masturbation ever being discussed in U.S. sex-ed classes (2023)[4]

Contact

Should you have any questions about the stats on this page, please contact [email protected].

References

  1. https://www.purewow.com/wellness/masturbation-survey
  2. https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/masturbation-confessions.html
  3. https://eustore.tenga.co/pages/globalreport2021
  4. https://www.womens-health.com/how-often-men-masturbate
  5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9794105/pdf/10508_2022_Article_2505.pdf
  6. https://www.tenga.co/press/TENGA_2018_US_Full_Report.pdf
  7. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dear-mona-i-masturbate-more-than-once-a-day-am-i-normal/
  8. https://www.tenga.co/press/TENGA_2020_US_Full_Report.pdf
  9. https://www.autostraddle.com/queer-women-masturbate-a-lot-and-other-self-pleasure-related-findings-from-our-lesbian-sex-survey-285414/
  10. HeraHaven Internal Data & https://world.org/blog/announcements/love-age-ai-over-1-in-4-admit-flirting-with-bot-record-breaking-world-survey-shows

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