Digital technology permeates almost every facet of society – from how people get news and information to the way they shop or apply for jobs and even how they seek romantic partners. Since online dating sites’ humble beginnings in the mid-1990s, these platforms have risen to become a multibillion-dollar industry that serves customers around the world.
Today, 30% of adults say they have ever used a dating site or app, but people’s experiences with online dating vary substantially across demographic groups.
To begin with, adults under the age of 30 are particularly likely to say they have used these dating platforms. Roughly half of 18- to 29-year-olds (48%) say they have ever used a dating site or app, compared with 38% of those ages 30 to 49, and 16% of those ages 50 and older. At the same time, there are significant differences in online dating experience by sexual orientation. More than half of LGB Americans (55%) report ever using these platforms, compared with 28% of those who are straight.
Use of online dating platforms also varies substantially by current marital status. Fully 52% of Americans who have never been married say they have ever used a dating site or app, compared with around one-third of those who are divorced, separated or widowed (35%) and just 21% of those who are married or living with a partner.
Although less pronounced, experiences with online dating also differ by educational attainment and community type. For example, 35% of those who have at least a bachelor’s degree have ever used a dating site or app, compared with 22% of those with a high school education or less. Additionally, those living in urban or suburban communities are more likely than those living in rural areas to say they have used these platforms.
Roughly one-in-five online dating users say they are currently using these platforms
Some 18% of Americans who have ever used a dating site or app say they are currently using these platforms, while another 17% report that they are not currently doing so but have in the past year. Still, a majority of people who have ever used these platforms report that the last time they did so was either between one and five years ago (26%) or more than five years ago (38%).
People who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are particularly likely to be current users of these platforms. One-in-three LGB Americans who have online dated are currently using a dating site or app, compared with 15% of straight users.
At the same time, online dating users ages 18 to 49 are more likely than those ages 50 and older to say they are currently using these platforms (20% vs. 12%), while men who say they’ve used these platforms are more likely than women to be current users of dating sites or apps (21% vs. 14%).
39% of online daters – and 12% of Americans overall – have married or been in a committed relationship with someone they first met through a dating site or app
Fully 77% of online dating users – and 23% of Americans overall – say they have gone on a date with someone they first met through a dating app or website. Interestingly, about one-in-four Americans who have used a dating site or app (23%) say they have never been on a date with someone they met through these platforms.
And while a majority of online daters have never forged a committed relationship with someone they first encountered through these platforms, 39% of online dating users (representing 12% of all U.S. adults) say they have been in a committed relationship or married someone they met on a dating site or app.
It also is fairly common for online daters to encounter people on these platforms that they already know: 63% of online daters (or 19% of all U.S. adults) say they have come across the profile of someone they already know offline.
Dating and its outcomes tend to vary by online daters’ level of education
Not only are those who have attended college more likely to use dating sites or apps compared with those who have less formal education, they also are more likely to have met or formed a committed relationship with the help of these sites.
Majorities across educational levels say they have gone on a date with someone they met through online dating, but these shares are higher among those with a college degree. Fully 84% of online dating users with at least a bachelor’s degree report going out with someone they met on a dating site or app, compared with 77% of those with some college experience, and 66% of those with a high school diploma or less.
College graduates and those with some college experience who used these platforms also are more likely than those with a high school education or less to say they have been in a committed relationship or married someone they met through an online dating site or app. These educational differences are similar when looking at just online daters ages 25 and older.
