Roughly 75% of women have masturbated at least once in their lifetime, based on large U.S. surveys conducted over the past two decades. That number has been climbing: the percentage of women who report never having masturbated dropped from 28.5% in the early 2000s to 24.1% by the early 2010s. In some countries, the rate is even higher. A German survey of women with a mean age of about 27 found that 94.5% had masturbated at least once.
How Often Women Masturbate
Lifetime rates tell part of the story, but frequency varies widely. In a 2015 survey of U.S. adults, about 40% of women reported masturbating in the past month, up from 37% in surveys conducted between 1999 and 2001. For comparison, about 64% of men reported masturbating in the past month during the same survey period.
Among women who do masturbate regularly, once a week is the most common frequency. The German survey found that the largest groups of women reported masturbating either two to three times per week (26.8%) or once per week (26.3%). Daily masturbation is less common but not unusual. The takeaway: there’s no “normal” frequency. The range is enormous, from a few times a year to daily.
How Rates Change With Age
Masturbation rates tend to peak during the reproductive years and gradually decline afterward, though the drop-off isn’t as steep as people often assume. Premenopausal and perimenopausal women report similar frequencies, but postmenopausal women report masturbating less often and rate its importance in their lives lower. One notable finding from Kinsey Institute research: the rate of orgasm during masturbation stays consistent across all stages, averaging about 81% of the time regardless of age or menopausal status.
Sex Toy Use During Masturbation
Sex toys are a common part of the picture. Among women who masturbate, about 56% have used a sex toy at least occasionally, and 46% use one almost every time. External vibrators are the most popular choice (used by about 64% of toy users), followed by penetrative toys like dildos (44%). These numbers come from a recent U.S. survey of women 60 and older, suggesting that toy use remains common well into later life. Across all age groups, roughly 44% of women incorporate toys into masturbation.
Why the Real Numbers Are Likely Higher
Every statistic on this topic comes with a significant asterisk: social stigma almost certainly pushes reported numbers lower than reality. Women consistently report more guilt and shame around masturbation than men, a gap researchers attribute to gender socialization that begins in childhood. Girls receive fewer positive messages about self-pleasure than boys, and in many cultural contexts, female masturbation carries explicit stigma. That shame doesn’t disappear when someone fills out a survey.
Research methodology matters too. Studies that rely on face-to-face interviews tend to produce lower numbers than anonymous online surveys. The 94.5% lifetime rate in the German study, which used an anonymous online format, likely reflects this difference. Populations that are underrepresented in sex research, including women of color, women with disabilities, and women from conservative religious backgrounds, are often missing from these datasets entirely, making it harder to build a truly complete picture.
Relationship Status Doesn’t Change Much
A common assumption is that masturbation is mainly something single people do. The data says otherwise. In the German survey, 91.5% of women who masturbated continued doing so while in a committed relationship. Among the small percentage of women who had never masturbated (5.5%), the two most common reasons were low sexual desire and a belief that sex should only involve a partner.
Physical Benefits
Masturbation triggers the release of dopamine and oxytocin, hormones that elevate mood and counteract cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone. That hormonal shift helps explain why masturbation is linked to better sleep. For women specifically, orgasm from masturbation can relieve menstrual cramps by increasing blood flow to the pelvic area and releasing muscle tension. In older women, regular masturbation is associated with less vaginal dryness and reduced pain during partnered sex, likely because it maintains blood flow and tissue elasticity over time.