Image: PM Images / Digital Visions / Getty Images
About This Quiz
Sometime between the beginning of time and now, sex became one of the world's most taboo topics. It's not to be discussed in public and is reserved for the most intimate conversations. Talking sex with a stranger is borderline illegal. Having this screen open in public can be nerve-wracking. As far as the media is concerned, depicting sex on TV is blasphemy. Deadly violence is more acceptable.
But as taboo as it has become, it has remained one of Earth's single most important activities. Without it, life as we know it wouldn't exist, so we have to study it. The main issue with a study about sex is that it's a study about sex, and people lie about sex. A lot. The number of people who admit to watching porn has never added up to the amount of money the porn industry makes, but we still have to study it, and we've studied it extensively.
We have stats on everything about sex. We know who's having sex and how long it lasts and where it's going down and how often it's being had. We even have stats telling us who's lying about their sex. Put your sex wits to the test and see what you know about sex.
martin-dm/E+/gettyimages/gettyimages
In 1995, just 2% of couples met online. What percentage of American couples meet online today?
20%
40%
According to a 2019 study from Stanford University and the University of New Mexico, 39% of heterosexual couples met online, which is way up from just 2% in 1995. Couples meeting via friends or family has significantly declined over the same period.
80%
95%
Advertisement
Carol Yepes/Moment/gettyimages
Excluding foreplay, how much time do we spend having sex on average?
One minute
Five minutes
An international study of 500 couples conducted in 2005 found the average sex session lasted anywhere from 30 seconds to 45 minutes, which is a very wide range, but the median duration was 5.4 minutes.
10 minutes
20 minutes
Advertisement
We Are/DigitalVision/gettyimages
What's the average age for a man to lose their virginity?
15
17
For nearly two decades, men have lost their virginity around age 17 on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The average was 17 back in 2002, went to 17.1 in 2010, and back to 17 in 2015. Men lose their virginity slightly earlier than women, but not by much.
20
13
Advertisement
Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision/gettyimages
What's the average age for a woman to lose her virginity?
16.2
17.3
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the average age for a woman to lose their virginity has hovered above 17 years of age for nearly two decades. The average dipped as low as 17.1, but never fell below 17.
18.1
19.4
Advertisement
Emilija Manevska/Moment/gettyimages
Do you know the most taboo act in America, with more than 90% of Americans saying it's wrong?
Anal sex
Premarital sex
Extramarital affair
According to a Gallup poll on American morals, 92% of respondents said an extramarital affair was morally wrong. It beat cloning, suicide, abortion, premarital sex, medical testing on animals, polygamy and the death penalty, making it the country's most morally taboo act.
Having a baby out of wedlock
Advertisement
blackCAT/E+/gettyimages
What percentage of Americans have had an extramarital affair?
8%
64%
32%
16%
According to data from the General Social Survey between 2010 and 2016, about 20% of men and 13% of women have had an extramarital affair. The age groups that reported the most affairs were men in their 70s and women in their 60s.
Advertisement
Dean Mitchell/E+/gettyimages
How many opposite-sex sexual partners does the average man have in their life?
6.3
According to the Centers for Disease Control, men had a median of 6.7 partners in 2002, 6 partners between 2002 and 2010, and 6.1 partners between 2011 and 2015. The average median is 6.3 across the three surveys.
12.6
25.2
50.4
Advertisement
Tom Merton/OJO Images/gettyimages
How many opposite-sex sexual partners does the average woman have in her life?
32
16
4
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the median number of sexual partners in a woman's lifetime has slightly increased over the past two decades. From 2011 to 2015, the median was 4.2, and in 2002 that number was 3.8.
8
Advertisement
Lauren Bates/Moment/gettyimages
What is the average age for a woman to birth her first child?
23.1
The average age for a woman's first birth in America is 23.1 years old, and it's held steady for nearly two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control. According to Pew Research, women give birth less often today than 40 years ago.
19
25.5
20
Advertisement
Dimitri Otis/DigitalVision/gettyimages
There are thousands of online dating services in the U.S. Which one is the most popular?
eHarmony
OKCupid
Tinder
Match
According to Statista, about 7% of online daters say Match is their favorite online dating service. About 5% of users say Tinder is their favorite, and OkCupid and eHarmony are favorites for 3 and 4% of users, respectively.
Advertisement
Image Source/DigitalVision/gettyimages
Which of the following age groups has the most sex?
75+
40-49
30-39
18-29
According to research from the Kinsey Institute, 18 to 29-year-olds have sex 116 times a year, on average. Those in their 30s have sex about 86 times a year, and it drops to 69 times a year in your 40s. It's been widely reported that these numbers have steadily declined.
Advertisement
Halfpoint Images/Moment/gettyimages
At what age do men father their first child, on average?
25.5
America's first-time father is about 25.5 years old on average, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The average first-time father is slightly older than the average first-time mother, and both have gotten older over time.
30
20.1
22
Advertisement
Guido Mieth/Moment/gettyimages
How many kids do Americans expect to have in their lifetime?
One
Two
According to the CDC, women between ages 15 and 44 expect to have 2.3 children in their lifetime, and men of the same age expect to father 2.2 children in their lifetime. According to Pew, only 14% of mothers gave birth to four or more children in 2014, compared to 40% in 1976.
Three
Four
Advertisement
Witthaya Prasongsin/Moment/gettyimages
What percentage of men have had more than 15 opposite-sex sexual partners in their lifetime?
33%
50.7%
21.1%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 21.1% of men between the age of 15 and 44 have had more than 15 opposite-sex sexual partners in their lifetime. The median number of sexual partners in a man's lifetime is about six.
15%
Advertisement
Kathrin Ziegler/DigitalVision/gettyimages
What percentage of women have had more than 15 opposite-sex sexual partners in their lifetime?
40%
20%
10%
About 10% of the women surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control say they've had 15 or more opposite-sex sexual partners in their lifetime, which is half the amount of men who say the same. The median number of sexual partners in a woman's lifetime is four.
5%
Advertisement
Stephen Zeigler/DigitalVision/gettyimages
Less than 20% of couples that meet offline are multiracial. What percentage of couples that meet online are multiracial?
8%
60%
15%
30%
American couples who meet online tend to be a lot more diverse than couples that meet offline. Online couples tend to come from different educational and political backgrounds as well, according to Pew Research.
Advertisement
Denkou Images/Cultura/gettyimages
What percentage of men have had five or more sexual partners in the past year?
4%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 4% of men aged 15 to 44 say they've had five or more opposite-sex sexual partners in the past 12 months. The number was as high as 4.6% in 2002 and as low as 3.9% between 2006 and 2010.
8%
16%
32%
Advertisement
efenzi/E+/gettyimages
Can you guess the percentage of Americans that have had premarital sex?
12%
23%
89%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 88.8% of women and 89.9% of men between the ages of 15 and 44 who have ever been married say they've had premarital sex. The number has risen for women and slightly decreased for men.
45%
Advertisement
Henrik Sorensen/DigitalVision/gettyimages
What percentage of women have had five or more sexual partners in the past year?
13.6%
6.8%
1.7%
Just 1.7% of women say they've had more than five opposite-sex sexual partners in the past 12 months. It's less than half the amount of men, and the number has steadily declined since 2002 when it was at 2.4 percent.
3.4%
Advertisement
SolStock/E+/gettyimages
Do you know the percentage of females that have had a sexual encounter with another female?
4.4%
35.2%
8.8%
17.6%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, a bit more than 17% of women between 18 and 44 have had a sexual encounter with another female. This number is up a few percentage points from the early 2000s.
Advertisement
Johnce/E+/gettyimages
Do you know the percentage of males that have had a sexual encounter with another male?
5%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 5.1% of males aged 15 to 44 have had oral or anal sex with another male in their lifetime. The number has stayed the same since 2006, but 3.2% say they've had sex within the last 12 months, which is up from 2.1% in 2006.
10%
20%
40%
Advertisement
nico_blue/E+/gettyimages
What percentage of men say their opposite-sex partner climaxed the last time they had sex?
65%
75%
85%
According to the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, 85% of men say their opposite-sex partner climaxed during intercourse. The survey was first conducted by Indiana University in 2009 and is one of the leading sex surveys.
95%
Advertisement
Tom Merton/OJO Images/gettyimages
What percentage of women say they climaxed the last time they had sex?
94%
84%
64%
According to Indiana University's National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, 64% of women say they reached climax the last time they had sex with an opposite-sex partner. It's a significant difference in the number of men who report their partner climaxed during sex.
74%
Advertisement
John M Lund Photography Inc/DigitalVision/gettyimages
There are about 330 million people in America. How many have tried online dating?
50 million
Research from The Statistic Brain Research Institute found that almost 50 million Americans dabbled in online dating, and that number is steadily increasing. According to Census Bureau numbers, that equals about half of all single Americans.
100 million
200 million
300 million
Advertisement
PeopleImages/E+/gettyimages
Can you guess the percentage of Americans that were celibate in 2018?
11%
92%
46%
23%
The "Washington Post" sourced data from The General Social Survey in 2018 to find that more Americans than ever were not having sex. About 23% of Americans (almost 1 in 4) reported not having sex in 2018.
Advertisement
Thinkstock/Stockbyte/gettyimages
What percentage of Americans have ever had anal sex?
35.5%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost 38% of men and one-third of women between the ages of 15 and 44 have engaged in anal sex. The number has steadily increased for both males and females since 2002.
71%
17.5%
8.7%
Advertisement
FatCamera/E+/gettyimages
Do more men or women identify as heterosexual?
Men
More than 95% of men identify as heterosexual or straight, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A bit less than 92% of women identify as heterosexual or straight, which is slightly down from 2006.
Women
Advertisement
martin-dm/E+/gettyimages
Since 2006, sexual preference for females has declined in which of the following groups?
Only attracted to same sex
Equally attracted to both sexes
Only attracted to opposite sex
In 2006, 82.8% of American women said they were only attracted to the opposite sex, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That number dropped to 80.1% in 2015. Percentages in every other category increased.
Not sure
Advertisement
Adie Bush/Cultura/gettyimages
Since 2006, sexual preference for males has declined in which of the following groups?
Only attracted to same sex
Equally attracted to both sexes
Only attracted to the opposite sex
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 93.3% of American males said they were only attracted to the opposite sex, and only 91.2% of males said the same thing in 2015. Numbers have increased in all other categories.
Not sure
Advertisement
John M Lund Photography Inc/DigitalVision/gettyimages
What percentage of Americans say online dating is a good way to meet people?
7%
59%
Almost 60% of people surveyed by Pew Research in 2015 said online dating was a good way to meet people. Pew first asked the question in 2005, when only 44% of people said that online dating was good.
29%
14%
Advertisement
Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision/gettyimages
Do you know the percentage of American teens that have had sex?
79%
9.8%
39.5%
According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the Centers for Disease Control, 39.5% of public and private school students between ninth and twelfth grade have had sex. The number is down from 54% in 1991 when the survey started.
19.7%
Advertisement
Adolescent Content/Ella Fields/DigitalVision/gettyimages
Americans are having less sex than ever before. What percentage of teens say they're online "almost constantly"?
27%
90%
45%
According to Pew Research, 45% of teens say they use the Internet "almost constantly," which is almost double the percentage in 2015. An additional 40% of teens say they use the Internet several times a day.
14%
Advertisement
Image Source/DigitalVision/gettyimages
What percentage of Americans engage in oral sex with an opposite-sex partner?
10%
81.7%
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 82% of men and 81% of women say they engaged in oral sex with an opposite-sex partner between 2011 and 2015. The numbers are slightly down since 2002.
20%
40.8%
Advertisement
ToolX/E+/gettyimages
What percentage of men have visited a pornography site within the past 30 days?
100%
75%
50%
25%
According to a study on pornography out of the University of Albany, 25% of men admit to visiting a pornography website within the past 30 days. Only 14% of people nationwide admit to having ever used a pornography site, and only 4% of women said they had done so within the past 30 days.
Advertisement
SolStock/E+/gettyimages
There are more than 300 million people in America. How many Americans are single?
55 million
110 million
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were more than 110 million single Americans in 2017. The number of singles has tripled since the 1960s when more than 70% of the population was married. Today, 45% of the population is married.
220 million
75 million
Advertisement
You Got:
/35
PM Images / Digital Visions / Getty Images