Sex Statistics in the US

Nelsi Diaz
Nelsi Diaz
— 3 min read
Sex Statistics in the US

Key Takeaways

  1. How often do people have sex? The average American adult has sex 54 times a year — roughly once a week (2015-2019)[12]
  2. Sexual inactivity is on the rise: Between 2000 and 2018, sexual inactivity increased among U.S. adults, especially young men (2000-2018)[14]
  3. 1 in 3 young men aren’t having sex: Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. men aged 18–24 reported no sexual activity in the past year (2020)[13]
  4. Heart health bonus: Sexual activity may help lower resting heart rate and blood pressure (2000-2018)[14]
  5. Masturbation stats: 55% of adults over 40+ reported masturbating in the past 6 months, and 2 in 3 did so in the past week (2023)[16]
  6. Oral sex on the rise: About 1 in 5 engage in oral sex weekly, up from just 14% in 2004 (2023)[16]
  7. The median number of lifetime opposite-sex partners is 4.3 for women and 6.3 for men  (1989-2014)[17]
🤖
1 in 4 adults has also flirted with an online AI-powered chatbot, like HeraHaven (2025) [18]

Prevalence & Frequency

  • Weekly sex: 46.7 % of men and 53.3 % of women aged 18-44 report sex at least weekly (2023)[1]
  • Age 57-64 vs. 75-85: sexually active in past 12 mo. – 73 % → 26 % (2007) [5]
  • Health matters: among 57-85-year-olds in excellent/very good health, 81 % (men) and 51 % (women) were sexually active vs. 47%/26% in poor health (2007)[5]
  • Annual average acts: 20-something adults log ≈ 80 sex acts per year; 60-somethings only ≈ 20 (2023)[1]
  • Married vs. unmarried: married couples average 55 acts/yr; dating pairs 64 (2023)[1]
  • Sexless America: Over the last decade, sexlessness doubled among young men and rose 50% among young women (2023)[15]
  • Sexless marriage: 15.9 % of married Americans report no sex in the prior year (2023)[1]
  • Even at 75-85, 59 % say sex is still at least “somewhat” important (2007)[5]

Sexual Inactivity Trend

  • Sexual inactivity among men 18-24 rose from 19 % in 2000 to 31 % in 2018. (200-2018) (2020)[10] [13]
  • In the most recent General Social Survey wave, 16 % of men vs. 12 % of women 18-44 had no partners in the past year. [10]
  • Adolescents reporting no solo or partnered sexual behavior jumped from 28.8% to 43.3 % (boys) and 49.5% to 74.0 % (girls) between 2009 and 2018 (2009-2018)[9]

Lifetime Number of Partners

  • Median opposite-sex partners (25-49 y): Men 6.3; Women 4.3 (2015-2019)[12]
  • Share with 15 + partners: 28.3 % men vs. 12.9 % women (2015-2019)[12]
  • U.S. adults average ≈ 7.2 partners over a lifetime (2013-2014)[7]
  • Teens 15-19 with 0-1 partner: 72 % girls, 70.5 % boys (2006-10)[6]

Age of First Try & Teen Behavior

  • Ever had sex (high schoolers, 2023): 32 % overall (2023)[2]
  • Condom use at last sex (high schoolers, 2023): 52 %; down 7 pp in a decade (2023)[2]
  • 70 % of U.S. teens have intercourse by age 19 (2023)[1]
  • Contraception progress: females 15-19 using any method at last sex climbed 86 % → 91 %; IUD/implant use 3 % → 15 % (2006-10 vs. 2015-19)[8]

Sexual Behaviors & Diversity

  • Anal sex: 43 % of men (insertive) & 37 % of women (receptive) (2015)[11]
  • Sexting: 65% of men and 54% of women have sent/received nude pics (2015)[11]
  • Public sex: ≥ 43 % of adults have tried it (2015)[11]
  • Threesome experience: 18 % men, 10 % women (2015)[11]
  • 80 % of adults report lifetime masturbation, vaginal and oral sex (2015)[11]

Relationship Context & Satisfaction

  • Orgasm usually/almost always: 85 % men vs. 64% women during intercourse (2009)[4]
  • Cheating: 23.2 % of men and 19.2 % of women admit infidelity (2023)[1]

STIs & Sexual Health Risks

  • 1 in 5 U.S. adults has an STI on any given day (2024)[3]
  • Young people's burden: 25 % of new STDs occur among ages 15-24 (2024)[3]
  • Among sexually active HS students, 48 % did not use a condom at last intercourse (2023)[2]

Resources

  1. https://www.womens-health.com/sex-statistics-by-age-gender-relationship
  2. https://yrbs-explorer.services.cdc.gov/#/
  3. https://weascend.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Quick-Facts-2021.pdf
  4. https://nationalsexstudy.indiana.edu/keyfindings/index.html
  5. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa067423
  6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5795598/
  7. https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/whats-your-number.html
  8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590151621000113
  9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34799832/
  10. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2767066
  11. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181198
  12. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/key_statistics/n-keystat.htm
  13. https://news.iu.edu/live/news/26924-nearly-1-in-3-young-men-in-the-us-report-having-no
  14. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7293001/
  15. https://ifstudies.org/blog/sexless-america-young-adults-are-having-less-sex
  16. https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/topics/social-leisure/relationships/aarp-2022-sex-relationship-study.doi.10.26419-2Fres.00748.001.pdf
  17. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28265779/
  18. HeraHaven Internal Data & https://world.org/blog/announcements/love-age-ai-over-1-in-4-admit-flirting-with-bot-record-breaking-world-survey-shows

Read more