Interesting New Statistics About Internet Dating

Seth Harden, Founder and CEO of Statistics Brain Research Institute states that his company is a group of people, himself included, who want to use their own love of numbers to  provide timely, accurate statistics in a wide array of subjects in order  to entertain, enlighten and help others through their use.  His hope is that you gain inspiration for the future and use the knowledge you obtain in a positive way.

Let's start with some facts regarding online dating in general.  There are 54,250,000 singles in the United States. 41,250,000 people in the United States have tried online dating; this is the number of people who tried online dating and not single people who gave online dating a try. It gave me more confidence in the statistics because there really is no way to tell if the people who sign up for dating sites are truly single, but it gives me more faith in the human race to make that assumption. 17% of couples who married in the past year began their relationships by meeting online, as did 20% of committed relationships.  The average length of courtship for marriages that began online is 18.5 months.  The average length of courtship for marriages that began offline is 42 months.  My guess is that most couples who met on the internet signed up for dating sites with marriage as the ultimate goal.

With regard to gender, 52.4% of dating site users are men, while women comprise 47.6% of online dating site users.  Women reach their online dating peak of desirability at the age of 21, and at age 26 they have more online pursuers than men.  However, among older age groups dating online, the stats are reverse.  By age 48, men have twice as many online pursuers than women.

There are also gender differences regarding what men and women are looking for in a mate.  38% of women online want a nice guy, while 15% prefer a bad guy and 34% are looking for a blend of both. In my experience, most men are a blend of both, that's why we love them.  6% of women will settle for whatever kind of man they can get. While at first I thought those 6% of women displayed a certain amount of desperation, I have since come to regard them as flexible and a bit more realistic than their counterparts; it can be very easy to overlook a good man while searching for a certain type. As for men, 42% are looking for the modern career girl, 34% want the girl next door, while 24% of men desire a hottie.  I smiled when I read that 24% of the men wanted a hottie, because the way I see it, a hottie is in the eye of the beholder, and once you make a true connection, your loved one is your hottie.  So in reality, don't all men as well as women end up with their very own hottie?