Online Dating Statistics in the US

Nelsi Diaz
Nelsi Diaz
— 4 min read
Online Dating Statistics in the US

Key takeaways

  • 1 in 10 married adults reported meeting their current spouse through a dating site or app (2022)[1]
  • 39% of heterosexual couples reported meeting their partner online, compared to 22% percent in 2009 (2017)[2]
  • The 18-29 age range dominates dating apps, with 53% them having tried one (2022)[1]
  • Dating apps are male-skewed with Tinder reporting 75% of its users as males (2024)[3]
  • A majority of adults (61%) believe meeting someone in person who you met on a dating site or app is generally safe (2024)[4]
  • Tinder is the most popular app with 9.6m paying users, followed by Bumble and Hinge (2024)[5][6]
  • Grindr is the most popular app for LGBTQ+ online dating, with slightly over 1m paying users, having grown 80% since 2021 (2024)[7][8]
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1 in 4 adults has also flirted with an online AI-powered chatbot, like HeraHaven (2025) [9]

How Americans Meet & Who Uses Dating Apps

  • 39 % of heterosexual couples met online in 2017, up from 22 % in 2009 [2] 
  • 30 % of U.S. adults — including 53 % of 18‑ to 29‑year‑olds — have ever used a dating site or app [14]
  • Among partnered adults who have ever tried online dating, 40 % met their current spouse or partner there [12]
  • In the past 12 months, users’ top motives were long‑term love 44 %, casual dating 40 %, casual sex 24 %, friendship 22 % [12]
  • Goals in 2024: 41 % sought only a serious relationship, 20 % only casual, 39 % both serious + casual [4]

Gender, Age & Payment Patterns

  • Tinder’s U.S. user base is 76 % men / 24 % women (Mar 2021) [3]
  • 35 % of online daters have ever paid for extras; payment is higher among men 41 % vs 29 % women and 30 + adults 41 % vs 22 % under 30 [13]
  • By income: upper‑income users 45 %, middle 36 %, lower 28 % have paid [13] 
  • Paying helps: among partnered adults who have paid, 40 % met their partner online (vs 10 % overall) [12]

Experiences & Safety

  • Users report: unsolicited explicit pics 38 %, unwanted contact 30 %, insults 24 %, threats 6 % [1]
  • 52 % have encountered probable scammers; men < 50 : 63 % [1]
  • Women 18‑34: 57 % got unwanted explicit images; 19 % threatened [14]
  • The share calling online dating “safe” dipped from 53 % (2019) to 48 % (2023); 62 % of Americans 65 + say it’s unsafe [1]
  • 60 % of adults want mandatory background checks for profiles [1]

Beliefs About Algorithms & Verification

  • Only 21 % think matching algorithms can predict love [1]
  • A 90 k‑person 2025 survey found 90 % want human verification and 66 % doubt current checks [9]

Market Size & Company Results

  • Global dating‑app revenue reached $6.18 bn in 2024; $3.5 bn came from Match Group [6]
  • Match Group 2024 totals: $3.48 bn revenue (+3 % YoY); U.S. $1.59 bn (46 %), International 54 % [5]
    • Tinder $1.94 bn revenue; 9.7 m payers (–7 % YoY)
    • Hinge $550 m revenue; 1.53 m payers (+23 % YoY) [5]
  • About 350 m people use dating apps worldwide; 25 m pay for extras [6]

U.S. App Performance (Q3 2024)

  • Tinder: $8.7–9 m weekly revenue; downloads peak 250 k; 5.5 m weekly active users [7]
  • Bumble: $5.4 m weekly; downloads 126–144 k; active users drop 3.6 → 3.1 m [7]
  • Hinge: revenue peak $4.3 m; users steady 3.8 m [7]
  • Grindr: $2.1–2.2 m weekly; users 1.4 → 1.3 m [7]
  • Hily: revenue up $0.66 → 1 m; users 645 k → 691 k [7]
  • Grindr averaged 1.11 m paying users in Q3 2024 (up from 962 k) [8]

User Choices & Brand Share

  • Ever‑users’ top apps: Tinder 46 %, Plenty of Fish 33 %, Match 29 %, Bumble 26 %, eHarmony 22 % [4]
  • Among 18‑29‑year‑olds: Tinder 80 %, Bumble 48 % [4]
  • 25 % of young adults believe AI partners could replace real ones; 55 % see AI romance as threatening, 45 % as exciting [11]
  • 26 % of 90 k respondents flirted with a chatbot; 60 % suspected or found a bot match [9]
  • 21 % of AI‑chat users (29 % young men) prefer chatting with AI over people [10]
  • Users rate AI chats easier to talk to 42 %, better listeners 43 %, more understanding 31 % [10]
  • 33 % use AI chats for sexual arousal; 16 % have weekly sexual conversations with AI companions [10]
  • 44 % of young adults say AI‑generated images can be more attractive than real people [10]

Contact

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

References

  1. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/02/02/key-findings-about-online-dating-in-the-u-s/
  2. https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2019/08/online-dating-popular-way-u-s-couples-meet
  3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/975925/us-tinder-user-ratio-gender/
  4. https://ssrs.com/insights/the-public-and-online-dating-in-2024/
  5. https://s203.q4cdn.com/993464185/files/doc_financials/2024/ar/MTCH-ARS-2025-03-27.pdf
  6. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/dating-app-market/
  7. https://sensortower.com/blog/2024-q3-unified-top-5-dating-revenue-us-64c9b6bbe1714cfff1c9d0e8
  8. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1413030/grindr-annual-average-paying-users/
  9. HeraHaven Internal Data & https://world.org/blog/announcements/love-age-ai-over-1-in-4-admit-flirting-with-bot-record-breaking-world-survey-shows
  10. https://brightspotcdn.byu.edu/a6/a1/c3036cf14686accdae72a4861dd1/counterfeit-connections-report.pdf
  11. https://ifstudies.org/blog/artificial-intelligence-and-relationships-1-in-4-young-adults-believe-ai-partners-could-replace-real-life-romance
  12. https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/PI_2023.02.02_Onilne-Dating_FINAL.pdf
  13. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/02/02/the-who-where-and-why-of-online-dating-in-the-u-s/
  14. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/02/06/the-virtues-and-downsides-of-online-dating/

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