Online Dating Statistics 2026

Every number on this page comes from a named, linked source — no estimates, no recycled figures. Use these 40 statistics on online dating freely with attribution. Last updated: August 13, 2026.

Key takeaways

• Three in ten U.S. adults say they have ever used an online dating site or app.
• Global online dating revenue is projected to reach US$3.24 billion in 2026.
• Roughly 27% of U.S. couples who married in 2025 first connected through a dating site or app, per a survey of nearly 17,000 couples.
• An estimated 14% of Hinge matches convert into a first date, a useful benchmark for match-to-date conversion.

Who Uses Online Dating

• Three in ten U.S. adults say they have ever used an online dating site or app. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• More than half of adults under 30 (53%) have tried online dating, the highest rate of any age group. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• Lifetime online dating use among U.S. adults climbed to 39% by early 2025, up from 30% in Pew's 2022 measurement. (SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus, 2025)
• Nearly two-thirds of 18-to-29-year-olds (65%) have used a dating site or app, and 16% were actively using one in early 2025. (SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus, 2025)
• Half of LGB adults (51%) have used a dating site or app, versus 28% of straight adults. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• One in five U.S. adults aged 50-64 (20%) has tried online dating, showing adoption well beyond the youngest daters. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• Tinder is the most-tried platform among Americans who have ever dated online, used by 46% of them. (SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus, 2025)

Market Size & Industry

• Global online dating revenue is projected to reach US$3.24 billion in 2026. (Statista Market Insights, 2026)
• The number of online dating users worldwide is expected to grow to 475.1 million by 2030. (Statista Market Insights, 2030)
• The United States is the world's largest online dating market, projected at US$1.45 billion in revenue in 2026. (Statista Market Insights, 2026)
• Belgium is projected to have the world's highest online dating user penetration at 19.7%, underlining Europe's strong adoption. (Statista Market Insights, 2026)
• About 35% of online dating users have paid for a premium feature, rising to 45% among upper-income users. (Pew Research Center, 2023)

Couples Who Met Online

• Roughly 27% of U.S. couples who married in 2025 first connected through a dating site or app, per a survey of nearly 17,000 couples. (The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study (via Global Dating Insights), 2025)
• When all digital channels are counted, about 60% of couples surveyed in 2024 said they met their spouse online. (PNAS study (via Global Dating Insights), 2024)
• Stanford's How Couples Meet study found about 39% of U.S. heterosexual couples met online by 2017, making it the single most common way to meet. (Rosenfeld et al., PNAS (Stanford), 2019)
• One in ten partnered U.S. adults met their current partner online, rising to 20% among partnered adults under 30 and 24% among LGB adults. (Pew Research Center, 2023)

First Dates & Video Dating

• An estimated 14% of Hinge matches convert into a first date, a useful benchmark for match-to-date conversion. (Business of Apps (via Connected Couples), 2025)
• 65% of Hinge users who tried a video date planned to keep using virtual dates as a low-pressure step before meeting in person. (Hinge (PR Newswire), 2021)
• 58% of daters who avoid video calls before a first date say fear of awkwardness is the main reason. (Hinge (PR Newswire), 2021)
• 69% of Hinge users say finding time is the biggest obstacle to planning an in-person first date. (Hinge (PR Newswire), 2021)

Dating App Fatigue & Burnout

• 78% of Americans who used a dating app in the past year say they feel dating app burnout sometimes, often or always. (Forbes Health / OnePoll survey, 2024)
• Dating app burnout is higher among women (80%) than men (74%), and highest among millennials at 80%. (Forbes Health / OnePoll (via StudyFinds), 2024)
• The average dating app user spends about 51 minutes a day swiping, with millennials topping the chart at 56 minutes. (Forbes Health / OnePoll (via StudyFinds), 2024)
• 40% of burned-out dating app users blame the struggle to find genuine connections. (Forbes Health / OnePoll survey, 2024)
• 46% of U.S. online dating users describe their overall experience as at least somewhat negative, versus 53% at least somewhat positive. (Pew Research Center, 2023)

Romance Scams & Financial Safety

• Nearly 70,000 Americans reported a romance scam to the FTC in 2022, with reported losses of $1.3 billion and a median loss of $4,400. (FTC Consumer Sentinel Data Spotlight, 2023)
• The FBI's IC3 logged 17,910 romance and confidence fraud complaints in 2024, with reported losses of about $672 million. (FBI IC3 2024 Internet Crime Report, 2024)
• In the first nine months of 2025, U.S. consumers filed 55,604 romance scam reports with $1.16 billion in reported losses and a median loss near $2,200. (FTC data (compiled by Arnaques-Rencontres), 2025)
• Per the FTC, romance scams more often start on social media (40%) than on dating sites or apps (19%), so vigilance matters everywhere online. (FTC Data Spotlight (via CatfishFinder), 2023)
• UK romance fraud reached £102 million across 10,784 reports in 2025, with an average reported loss of about £9,500. (City of London Police (compiled by Arnaques-Rencontres), 2025)
• Cryptocurrency was the costliest payment method in U.S. romance scams, accounting for roughly a third of reported losses. (FTC data (compiled by Arnaques-Rencontres), 2025)

Catfishing & Profile Verification

• 52% of online dating users say they have encountered someone they believed was trying to scam them. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• Men under 50 are the most likely to report meeting a suspected scammer on a dating platform, at 63%. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• Match Group reported a more than 60% decrease in exposure to potential bad actors in markets where Tinder's Face Check facial verification rolled out alongside other safety measures. (Match Group announcement (via CatfishFinder), 2025)
• 60% of U.S. adults say dating platforms should require background checks before someone can create a profile. (Pew Research Center, 2023)
• About one in five dating app users (21%) reports encountering people who lied about their age, the most common profile misrepresentation. (Forbes Health / OnePoll (via StudyFinds), 2024)

Ghosting & Messaging Behavior

• 76% of U.S. daters say they have either ghosted someone or been ghosted themselves. (Forbes Health / OnePoll survey, 2023)
• 82% of millennial women and 71% of millennial men say they have been ghosted on a dating app. (BankMyCell survey, 2024)
• Avoiding confrontation is the top reason people ghost, cited by 50% of women and 38% of men. (BankMyCell survey, 2024)
• 54% of women who dated online in the past year felt overwhelmed by the number of messages received, while 64% of men felt insecure about receiving too few. (Pew Research Center, 2023)

Methodology: every statistic above was individually verified against its linked source in August 2026. Statistics whose sources could not be verified were excluded. When citing, please link the original source named next to each figure.