Masturbation is one of the most common sexual behaviors across all age groups, but the percentages vary considerably depending on gender, age, and how the question is asked. In large nationally representative surveys, roughly three-quarters of men and about a third to 40 percent of women report masturbating in the past month, though those figures shift at every stage of life. The real story is richer than a single set of numbers, because the data break apart in interesting ways once you look at adolescence, midlife, older adulthood, sexual orientation, and the considerable measurement problems that make every published figure a likely undercount.
The Gender Gap
The most consistent finding in masturbation research is that men report it more often than women, by a wide margin. A U.S. nationally representative survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that significantly more men than women reported both lifetime masturbation and masturbation in the past month, and that men reported greater frequency overall.1PubMed Central. Masturbation Prevalence, Frequency, Reasons, and Associations with Partnered Sex in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a U.S. Nationally Representative Survey British national probability data from 1999–2001 put the past-month figures at about 73 percent of men and 37 percent of women.2PubMed. Prevalence of masturbation and associated factors in a British national probability survey By 2010–2012, those figures had climbed to roughly 78 percent for men and 40 percent for women, a statistically significant increase in both groups.3PubMed. Trends in Masturbation Prevalence and Associated Factors: Findings from the British National Surveys of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles
Whether this gap reflects biology, socialization, or both is still debated. What the trend data do suggest is that the gap has been narrowing, particularly on the female side. Women’s reported past-month masturbation rose by about three percentage points over a decade in the U.K., while men’s rose by about four. Those are not enormous shifts, but they track alongside broader cultural changes in how openly women’s sexuality is discussed. Some researchers suspect that part of the historical gap was always a reporting gap rather than a behavior gap, a point explored further below.
Adolescence
Masturbation typically becomes common during puberty, and the percentages climb steeply through the teenage years. A nationally representative U.S. study of adolescents aged 14 to 17 found that about 63 percent of 14-year-old boys reported having masturbated at least once, rising to 80 percent by age 17. Past-month masturbation also jumped with age: roughly 43 percent of 14-year-old boys reported it, compared with about 68 percent of 17-year-olds.4Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Prevalence, Frequency, and Associations of Masturbation With Partnered Sexual Behaviors Among US Adolescents That same study found that among girls, masturbation occurrence also increased with age, though the percentages were consistently lower than for boys at every age point.
Adolescent data are particularly sensitive to how questions are framed and whether the survey is truly anonymous. Teenagers may underreport more than adults, especially girls, who face stronger cultural messaging that masturbation is not something “nice girls” do. Still, the basic pattern is clear: by the late teens, a majority of boys and a substantial minority of girls have engaged in masturbation, and the behavior becomes more frequent as adolescents get older.
Women Through Midlife and Menopause
For women, the story does not follow a simple “peaks in youth, declines after” arc. A U.S. study of women aged 40 to 65 found that about two-thirds of premenopausal women and nearly three-quarters of perimenopausal women reported masturbating in the past year. Postmenopausal women reported lower rates, at about 56 percent. Perimenopausal women were more likely than postmenopausal women to report masturbating a few times a week, while postmenopausal women who did masturbate tended to do so about once a month.5PubMed Central. Masturbation frequency and experiences among US women aged 40-65 years: comparisons across different stages of the menopause transition
The perimenopausal bump is worth noting. Women going through the menopausal transition sometimes experience heightened or fluctuating desire, and masturbation may serve a specific self-care role during that time. Research has found that women rated masturbation among the highest strategies for relieving menopause-related symptoms, particularly mood changes and sleep disturbances.6PubMed Central. The role of masturbation in relieving symptoms associated with menopause That practical dimension helps explain why rates do not simply drop off a cliff at midlife.
Older Adults
Masturbation does not disappear in later life, even though many studies have historically ignored older populations. A study of adults over 60 across four European countries found that between 41 and 65 percent of men and 27 to 40 percent of women reported masturbating in the past month.7PubMed Central. Prevalence of Masturbation and Associated Factors Among Older Adults in Four European Countries Those are lower than the rates seen in younger populations, but they represent a very large share of people still engaging in this behavior well into their sixties, seventies, and beyond.
What predicts whether an older person masturbates turns out to be somewhat different from what predicts it in younger adults. Using data from the U.S. National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, researchers found that frequent sexual thoughts were a much stronger predictor than having frequent partnered sex. In fact, the odds of masturbating were about four and a half times higher among those with frequent sexual thoughts. Dissatisfaction with how often one had partnered sex also increased the likelihood. For partnered older adults, only those who described their relationships as both physically and emotionally satisfying were less likely to masturbate.8Innovation in Aging. Who Masturbates? It Depends: Predictors of Masturbation by Gender and Partnership of Older Adults
Among older women specifically, depression and bothersome sexual dysfunction were linked to increased odds of masturbating, a pattern not seen in older men.8Innovation in Aging. Who Masturbates? It Depends: Predictors of Masturbation by Gender and Partnership of Older Adults Attitudes also matter. In the European study, people who believed sex was beneficial to older people were more likely to report masturbating, while those holding less permissive views were less likely to do so.7PubMed Central. Prevalence of Masturbation and Associated Factors Among Older Adults in Four European Countries In other words, what an older person thinks about whether sexuality matters at their age shapes whether they stay sexually active with themselves.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
The numbers also shift by sexual orientation. Research comparing gay and heterosexual adults found that gay men initiate masturbation earlier in life and report higher frequency and stronger solitary sexual desire than heterosexual men. For women, though, the pattern flips: lesbian women reported lower frequency and lower solitary sexual desire than heterosexual women.9Psychology & Sexuality. Parameters of masturbation: effects of gender and sexual orientation That asymmetry is intriguing, and it suggests that orientation interacts with gender in complex ways when it comes to solo sexual behavior.
Non-binary individuals appear to report higher masturbation rates than people categorized as female-oriented, though their rates are comparable to those categorized as male-oriented, according to a review covering twelve years of quantitative research.10PubMed Central. Non-Binary People’s Sexuality, Sexual Health, and Relationship Satisfaction: A Review of 12 Years of Quantitative Research (2012–2024) The research base on non-binary populations is still growing, but the emerging picture is that gender identity matters for how and how often people engage in masturbation.
Why Every Number You Read Is Probably Low
All of the percentages in this article share a common limitation: they come from self-report. And when it comes to sexual behavior, self-report is unreliable in predictable directions. A review of social desirability bias in sex research concluded that under-reporting of stigmatized behaviors is common even in anonymous surveys, and that the degree of misreporting correlates with how socially undesirable the behavior is perceived to be.11PubMed Central. The Influence of Social Desirability on Sexual Behavior Surveys: A Review
The method of data collection makes a real difference. An experiment in rural Malawi compared face-to-face interviews with audio computer-assisted self-interviewing and found that the interview method significantly influenced reporting of sensitive behaviors, particularly among men. Men tended to overreport conventional sexual experience in face-to-face settings while underreporting stigmatized encounters, and the pattern reversed when they could answer privately through a computer.12International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Social Desirability Bias in Sexual Behavior Reporting: Evidence from an Interview Mode Experiment in Rural Malawi For women, the pressure often runs in the opposite direction: the cultural norm in many settings is to understate sexual behavior of all kinds, which likely means true masturbation rates among women are higher than surveys capture.
Sex researchers generally lack a gold standard to compare self-reports against, so the extent of the undercount is unknown. But the consistent finding that more anonymous survey methods yield higher rates of reported masturbation suggests the published numbers represent a floor, not a ceiling.
Medications That Suppress Desire
Any discussion of masturbation rates has to acknowledge that millions of people are on medications that dampen libido and sexual response. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the most widely prescribed class of antidepressants, are well known to cause sexual side effects including reduced desire, difficulty reaching orgasm, and delayed ejaculation.13PubMed Central. Sexual dysfunction in selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and potential solutions: A narrative literature review Hormonal birth control is another common culprit. A qualitative study of women discussing low libido found that antidepressants and hormonal contraceptives were frequently described as triggers for decreased sexual desire.14PubMed. A qualitative analysis of female Reddit users’ experiences with low libido: how do women perceive their changes in sexual desire?
For some people, these effects persist even after they stop the medication. Both post-SSRI sexual dysfunction and a similar condition linked to finasteride (a drug used for hair loss) have been documented, with symptoms including loss of libido, difficulty with arousal, and a subjective feeling of disconnection between the brain and genitals.15PubMed. Post-finasteride syndrome and post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: two sides of the same coin? These are not rare medications. Tens of millions of people take SSRIs or hormonal contraceptives at any given time, which means medication-driven suppression of desire is almost certainly pushing the population-level masturbation statistics down, especially among women of reproductive age and anyone being treated for depression or anxiety.
When Masturbation Causes Distress, It Is Usually About the Meaning, Not the Act
Some people do experience genuine distress related to masturbation, but the research increasingly points to moral and religious framing as the primary source of that distress rather than the behavior itself. A systematic review of compulsive sexual behavior and religiosity found a strong link between religious belief and the perception that one’s sexual behavior is problematic, driven largely by moral disapproval and the incongruence between one’s actions and one’s values.16PubMed Central. Compulsive sexual behavior, religiosity, and spirituality: A systematic review The WHO’s diagnostic framework for compulsive sexual behavior disorder explicitly excludes cases where distress comes entirely from moral or cultural conflict with one’s own sexual behavior.
An ecological momentary assessment study tracked people’s emotional states immediately after masturbation and pornography use and found that people with high moral incongruence experienced more intense spikes in shame, guilt, difficulty thinking, and mood deterioration compared to those with low moral incongruence.17PubMed Central. Quantifying Opponent Process Dynamics in Pornography Use and Masturbation: An Exploratory Ecological Momentary Assessment Study A study of religious adolescents found moderate correlations between compulsive sexual behavior scores and sexual shame, as well as weaker but significant correlations with moral disapproval of masturbation itself.18PubMed Central. The Sacred, the Sinful, and the Shamed: The Association Between Compulsive Sexual Behavior, Moral Disapproval, and Sexual Shame Among Jewish Religious Adolescents
On the other hand, when the moral layer is absent, masturbation appears to be broadly beneficial. Research on women who use masturbation as a coping strategy found that it reliably helped with stress reduction, positive mood, relaxation, pain management, and sleep quality.19PubMed Central. Exploring the Role of Masturbation as a Coping Strategy in Women The picture that emerges is not “masturbation is harmless for everyone” but rather “the harm, when present, tends to come from the collision between behavior and belief system, not from the behavior itself.”
How Sex Toys Fit In
Vibrators and other sex toys are a significant part of the masturbation landscape, especially for women. About half of Canadian women have used a vibrator at some point in their lives, and roughly a third have used one in the past year. Use is more common among younger, more educated, and bisexual women.20The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. Canadian women’s vibrator use: Prevalence and characteristics Among U.S. women aged 60 and older who masturbated at least once in the past year, about 46 percent reported using toys almost always or always during solo sessions, compared with only about 5 percent during partnered sex.21PubMed. Sex toy use among a demographically representative sample of women 60 and older in the United States That ratio is striking: for older women, sex toys are overwhelmingly a solo activity.
The high rate of toy use among older women likely reflects practical factors. Arousal and lubrication can take longer after menopause, and vibrators provide more consistent stimulation. The availability of discreet online purchasing has also removed the barrier of walking into a physical store, which may be a bigger deal for women who came of age before these products were widely marketed.
Masturbation Within Relationships
There is a persistent folk belief that masturbation is mainly a substitute for partnered sex, something single people do because they lack a partner. The data tell a more nuanced story. Mutual masturbation, where partners stimulate each other, is common: about half of people in relationships reported engaging in it within the past two weeks in one study. That study also found that recent mutual masturbation was independently associated with higher sexual satisfaction, even after accounting for solo masturbation, age, relationship status, and other factors.22PubMed Central. The Role of Mutual Masturbation within Relationships: Associations with Sexual Satisfaction and Sexual Self-Esteem
Solo masturbation within relationships is common too, and it does not necessarily signal dissatisfaction. Among older adults, the relationship between partnered sex and masturbation is complicated: people who were dissatisfied with the frequency of partnered sex were more likely to masturbate, but having frequent partnered sex alone was not a significant predictor either way.8Innovation in Aging. Who Masturbates? It Depends: Predictors of Masturbation by Gender and Partnership of Older Adults In other words, someone can have a satisfying partnered sex life and still masturbate, or they can masturbate because their partnered sex life is not meeting their needs. The motivations are not one-size-fits-all.
An Ancient Behavior, Not a Modern Invention
If the prevalence data make masturbation look universal in humans, the evolutionary picture confirms it is not unique to us either. A phylogenetic analysis covering primates found that masturbation is an ancient trait in the primate order, becoming more common after the evolutionary split from tarsiers. The researchers found evidence supporting two functional explanations: that masturbation aids fertilization chances by improving sperm quality in competitive mating contexts, and that it helps reduce genital infections by flushing pathogens. Both hypotheses were supported for male primates at the macroevolutionary scale.23PubMed Central. The evolution of masturbation is associated with postcopulatory selection and pathogen avoidance in primates
None of this means every instance of human masturbation serves a reproductive or hygienic function. But it does firmly place the behavior within the normal range of primate sexuality rather than treating it as some modern aberration driven by pornography or idle time. The primates in the study did not have internet access. They masturbated anyway, and apparently have been doing so for millions of years.
Disability and the Assumption That It Does Not Apply
One population that gets routinely excluded from conversations about masturbation is people with disabilities. This is not because disabled people do not masturbate; it is because healthcare providers and researchers often assume they do not care about sex. A qualitative study of adults with muscular dystrophy captured this attitude directly, with one participant noting that most providers “just don’t see that I would be interested in sex, masturbation, or even relationship with Duchenne.”24PubMed Central. Moving beyond puberty: Listening to lived experience to expand sexual and reproductive healthcare for adults with muscular dystrophy
Physical limitations can make masturbation more difficult, whether because of reduced hand function, limited mobility, fatigue, or pain. Adaptive devices and assistive technology exist but are rarely discussed in clinical settings. For people whose conditions also affect genital sensation or arousal pathways, the challenge is compounded. The result is that a significant population is left out of both the data and the support systems, which distorts the overall picture of who masturbates and makes it harder for disabled individuals to get the guidance they would benefit from.