U.S. Dating Sites: Statistics

We have compiled the most important facts and figures on online dating for you.

How many U.S. Singles are active on dating sites?

Here you get a feeling for the orders of magnitude:

  • The U.S. have a population of around 334 million.
  • Over 57 million are looking for a partner on the web.

How many members of dating sites actually fall in love?

There are many different studies on this, all of which come to a similar conclusion:

  • Around 50% of those who look for dates also manage to arrange dates.
  • Around 25% fall in love.

However, many don't want to fall in love at all, they just want to have a bit of fun...

The big losers in online dating are men from the lower classes who can offer little to women.

How many dating sites are there in the U.S.?

That's several thousand, but most of them...

  • are too small
  • are dubious
  • have a gross surplus of men

That leaves around 30 good dating sites 

How do dating sites work?

U.W. women and men have several options for finding the right match on the internet.

Serious dating sites

The best chances of finding a spouse are with the well-known dating sites such as eharmony.com or elitesingles.com. Here, a sophisticated matching algorithm takes over the search for you.

Dating sites for flirts

On popular dating sites like Match.com, you go on the prowl yourself. Everything can, nothing must! The fun of flirting is in the foreground here.

Casual dating sites

On dating sites like C-date.com, singles and committed people search and find dates for dates without obligation.

Dating apps for Smartphone

Singles under 25 are usually looking for a partner using a free app, such as Lovoo. They rarely look for true love here.

Dating sites for specific niches

About half of the U.S. dating sites are only for specific target groups. There are dating sites for specific niches:

  • Christian dating sites 
  • Dating sites for single parents with child
  • Dating sites for homosexuals
  • Dating sites for disabled singles 
  • Dating sites for athlets
  • Dating sites for farmers
  • Dating sites for tall, short, overweight singles
  • spiritual adnd religious dating sites for christians, muslims, jews and more...
  • Dating sites for seniors

Which dating sites are reputable?

This is what you can expect from a serious dating site:

  • Sufficiently active members
  • Similar number of women and men
  • Hand-checked profiles or ID Check
  • State-of-the-art safety technology
  • fair contract terms
  • Data protection regulations are complied with

All tested dating sites in our overview fulfil the conditions just listed!

How much do internet dating sites cost?

The differences in prices for premium memberships are quite significant depending on the provider. The monthly costs depend on the service offered and the contract period.

Comparison of the costs of dating sites and flirt apps for a 6-month subscription:

  • Flirt apps: USD 0 to USD 100
  • Dating sites: USD 100 to USD 500

Why are the costs for TOP dating sites so high?

  • The well-known dating sites have spent a lot of money on the development of their matching system.
  • The operation of the platform and the customer service also devours massive amounts of money.
  • The highest item by far, however, is the advertising budget: almost ¾ of the revenue flows directly back into advertising. Why is that? The basis of a well-functioning dating site is its membership file. And thanks to the many and also good advertisements, many thousands of new singles register with the dating agencies every day. The matching algorithm then has the possibility to select from very many members and thus the success rate also increases.
  • The higher the fees, the more serious the interest. On high-priced dating sites, you will find few members who do NOT have serious intentions. People who are just looking for fun or validation don't want to spend huge amounts of money or invest a lot of time in personality tests and profile maintenance.
  • Members of high-quality dating sites want to make the most of their investment and pursue dating actively and continuously. The interaction with each other is friendly and respectful. Messages are answered as a matter of course and dates are arranged with pleasure and rarely burst.

Are there any free dating sites?

Registration, profile creation, and a number of standard functions are free with all reputable dating sites.

However, as a standard member, you can usually unfortunately only get in touch with other singles in a very limited way. Therefore, it is not really realistic to meet the great love with a free membership on a dating site without first becoming a premium member.

As a basic member, you can test various sites free of charge before you purchase a paid premium subscription and seriously start looking for a partner.

Completely free dating sites unfortunately often attract members who are not necessarily serious. Singles who are consciously looking for a long-term relationship have to painstakingly find out whether their counterpart is just looking for fun or is really interested in a partnership.

Do as many of your fellow singles have done in recent years. Don't rely on amateurs, but only let the best professionals do the work! Because only the first-class dating sites - which frankly also have their price - have what it takes to find Ms or Mr Right for you!


Guarantees with online dating sites

Do online dating sites guarantee to find true love?

Unfortunately no... But a dating site can give you a guarantee that you will get enough contact suggestions. All renowned dating sites offer you a contact guarantee. This means that you will receive at least x (depending on the provider) partner suggestions. If this is not the case, your membership will continue free of charge until you have made a certain number of contacts.

Whether one of these contacts actually turns into the great love is no longer in the power of the partner side. This is where you are in demand:

Think about whether the search criteria you have entered could perhaps be a little more generous. Go into contact with your partner suggestions openly and without prejudice. In short: Give love a chance!


Which dating site suits me?

Millions of singles share a common goal. To eventually find the one partner with whom they will spend the rest of their lives. But where can you find such a dream partner? Besides the personal attitude, you have to be clear about what you want to look for.

If you find that you are not one of those singles who find their potential partner in the nearest yoga studio, the internet could be an alternative.

Petra Frömsdorf
Expert since 2003
Every Jack has his Jill!

Through our years of experience, we can tell you where the search is worthwhile and where you should rather steer clear.

There are numerous dating sites with a wide range of offers. Those who have not yet had their own experience with online dating can quickly lose track.

What is important when choosing a dating site?

First of all, we would like to introduce you to the most important requirements for successful dating on the internet. There is no one best dating site.

When choosing a provider, the only thing that counts is that you choose the dating site that is exactly aligned with your wishes and requirements.

Therefore, you should think about a few basic things before you take action:

What is the goal of your partner search?

Which intention is in the foreground for you: Do you want to

  • find a lasting relationship or start a family?
  • flirt and chat quickly and informally with other singles?
  • meet a leisure partner for joint activities such as hiking?
  • meet people spontaneously without any intention of commitment?

What requirements do you have for your dream partner?

On some dating sites, certain age groups or educational strata are clearly over- or under-represented. You should be able to answer the following questions for yourself:

  • In which age group should my future partner be?
  • What level of education should she or he have?
  • How far can the distance to my desired partner be?

Check which dating site has the most members in your preferred age group and whether the provider's membership structure matches your expectations.

This way you increase your chances of finding a dream partner!

The answer is really simple. Stay authentic! It's no use pretending online and disappointment follows on the first date. This also means that you should take your time when filling out the personality test. There is no point in deciding on an answer if you are not sure that you really stand behind it.

If you encounter this problem during registration, you can simply interrupt the test and continue at another time. You should also get involved in the experiment "serious partner search" and not make any excessive demands on the potential partner.

No one is perfect and the perfect dream partner is a utopia! Give people with rough edges a real chance to get to know you better. If it still doesn't work out, at least you will have learned something from the experience!


These dating sites are 2nd choice

Many really good dating sites simply no longer exist. Here are a few examples of not so great providers:

Badoo.com Online Dating sites

Among flirt-apps, Badoo is the best for me! It has a lot of members (but also a lot of fakes) and anyone who wants to use the app correctly has to pay.

Tinder App Online Dating sites

Tinder is used by many young people to arrange casual dates. However, many dubious persons are out and about and you know as good as nothing about the other person before the encounter.

That’s why 8 out of 10 dates are a complete flop. And that’s if you ever do get anything arranged...

POF.com Online Dating sites

POF ("Plenty of Fish") used to be a real good free online personals site. But after it got acquired by Match.com in 2015 POF is nothing more than an advertising space for paid dating sites...

Bumble Online Dating sites

Bumble was set up by an employee of Tinder to make online-dating female-friendly. The outcome of that, though, has not been well received by men…

I advise you not to try these dating sites.
 You are not only wasting your time but partly also your money!


Find the perfect dating site!

Inform, compare, test: You can try out all dating sites without paying any money. You should definitely take advantage of this!

Just sign up to 2-3 dating sites for free and watch what happens:

  • Which singles from your region are active there?
  • How many are online right now?
  • Who is writing you an email?

After a few days, you will know which dating site is best suited to your needs.

Only when you are sure about this decision do we recommend purchasing a premium membership. After that, you should immediately start actively looking for a partner on the chosen dating site in order to find a new partner!


Petra Frömsdorf
Petra Frömsdorf
Petra has been monitoring the world of online dating sites since 2003. In the media she is considered the leading expert on the topic of "Online Dating sites".