The internet is full of online dating statistics and it’s real difficult to gauge what is true and what is made up. Having spent the past couple of years working on this dating blog it’s still tough for me to gauge which numbers to believe.
Here is a list of online dating statistics that I bumped into when I went searching on Google. They are in no specific order but they do give a good insight into the growing market of internet dating.
- Every month over 113 million people visit an online dating site either as a guest or paid member
- There are approximately 1,500 dating sites in the US and Canada
- Estimates put the online dating niche as a $4 billion industry worldwide
- 20% of all singles have dated someone they met online
- Approximately 40 million United States Citizens have used online dating.
- Approximately 140 million Chinese Citizens have used online dating.
- Members of dating sites spend an average of $239 per year on their membership fees.
- 10% of singles that sign up for a dating site leave the site within the first 90 days.
- Almost 5% of all internet users have signed up for an internet dating site as paid members.
- Dating sites are the 3rd most popular place for singles to meet one another behind (#1) school/work and (#2) family/friends.
- The most common lies used by singles on dating sites are: 1. Age 2. Height 3. Weight 4. Income Level
- The two largest dating sites are eHarmony (over 20 million members) and Match.com (~ to be over 15 million although they don’t disclose their exact figures)
- Married couples who met online have an average courtship of 18.5 months before marrying
- Married couples who met offline have an average courtship of 42 months before marrying
Moving away from online dating statistics specifically, I came upon some interesting singles statistics. It’s amazing how much information you can find out there if you really start to drill down.
- For every 100 unmarried women there are only 88 unmarried men. The odds are apparently stacked in the guy’s favor (although it sure didn’t feel that way when I was single).
- In the United States, almost 53 million households are run by a single person (can be divorced or never married).
- In the United States, almost 32 million singles live alone (which is over 25% of all U.S. households
- Men are more apt to fall for “love at first site”. 54% of men admit to experiencing this sensation while only 44% of women will confess to it
- American singles aged 65 or older make up over 15% of all eligible singles. This works out to almost 17 million senior singles.
- Over 70% of all singles would have no issue living with someone without being married.
- In the United States and Canada the average age that singles get married is 28 for men and 26 for women.
- Just under 25% of men and women between the ages of 21-34 classify themselves as virgins.
- A third of all women who meet a man online have a sexual encounter on their first meeting.
- Over 33% of singles confess to having long term relationships with someone they had sex with on their first date.
There are some interesting online dating statistics listed above. I can’t vouch for their authenticity and since this isn’t a school research paper I didn’t take the time to list my source. Regardless, it gives a good insight to internet dating and gives you overview of the business. As the internet grows in popularity, you can expect many of these statistics to increase as well. ~Mac
