Record 28% of Consumers Look for Love on Dating Apps in Early 2023

Spring and summer are prime dating seasons, and like other human behaviors, the pandemic has increased consumer reliance on digital tools to find that special someone, at least for those who have the will and patience for the well-known frustrations with online dating.

Looking into our hearts and our data, the PYMNTS study “ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report: The Love and Social Media Edition” took a by-the-numbers approach to assess who is using these apps most in 2023, and the experiences being reported.

Looking at survey responses from nearly 2,800 consumers about the current state of finding a date, we found that dating app use is at record levels, with 28% of consumers, or approximately 73 million people, using these in March. That’s a 21% increase from the same month last year, and more consumers than we’ve seen at any other time in this 17-month series.

As to who and where these diehard daters are, data showed that “Most of these dating app users live in urban areas. Half of all urban consumers use dating apps, compared to just 19% and 16% of suburban and rural consumers, respectively. Moreover, 19% of urbanites use dating apps every single day.”

Men are putting themselves out there in larger numbers, as we found 12% of men use dating apps and sites daily, versus 7.5% of women. Generation Z consumers and millennials “also account for a disproportionate number of the consumers who use dating apps and sites. In total, 55% of Gen Z and 50% of millennials use some type of dating app or site — more than observed in any other generation.”

“Nearly 1 in 5 millennial and Gen Z consumers use dating apps or sites every day,” the study stated.

When it comes to the apps most likely to be used by romance seekers, it’s a mixed bag, with top dating platforms of recent years still dominating as others take smaller shares.

“Dating apps were downloaded more than 60 million times last year in the U.S., with Tinder, Bumble and Hinge representing roughly 60% of those downloads in any given month, on average,” the study found. “Plenty of Fish, MeetMe, Tagged, Grindr, Badoo and Wink make up the tail end of the online dating market, together driving 40% of all downloads in any given month, on average. Roughly 15% of consumers who download these apps wind up paying for subscriptions to the service.”