Adults 65 and older are the fastest-growing group of new dating-app users in the US, according to survey data released this year — even as younger daters report record burnout with the same platforms.
A survey of 217 American adults ages 65 and up conducted by UserTesting and reported by Axios in May found that 60% began using dating apps within just the past three years, and 30% signed up within the past year alone. That marks a sharp jump for an age group that historically avoided online dating almost entirely.
As recently as 2023, only 17% of US adults 50 and older had ever used a dating site or app at all, according to Pew Research Center, and usage dropped off further by age within that group — just 14% among people in their 60s and 12% among those 70 and older. The recent surge suggests a demographic long treated as a dating-app afterthought is now one of its most active growth pockets.
More recent survey data backs that up. A 2025 AARP survey found 49% of adults 50 and older had used a dating site within the past three years, with nearly half saying they stick to free platforms. Match.com, which built its senior-focused OurTime platform specifically for this demographic, says the shift reflects changed life circumstances rather than a fad. “Many older daters are approaching dating with a level of confidence and intentionality that younger users are still developing,” Michael Kaye, Match.com’s director of communications, told Axios, adding that apps “provide access and opportunity that may not exist organically in everyday life, especially after retirement, relocation, divorce or loss of a partner.”
The trend line among younger daters is moving in the opposite direction. More than half of Gen Z daters say they feel burned out “often” or “always” by dating apps — the highest rate of any generation — according to a Forbes Health survey cited by the Institute for Family Studies, which has tracked a broader pullback among young adults toward meeting people in person instead.
That doesn’t mean older daters have it easy. The same UserTesting survey found 72% of respondents 65 and older cite verifying that a profile is genuine as one of the hardest parts of using the apps, and separate AARP data from February found nearly 1 in 10 adults over 50 have experienced a romance scam involving a request for money or cryptocurrency. Fraud risk aside, the data points to a clear reversal: the demographic dating apps were originally built for is aging out and burning out, while the generation once considered too old to swipe is just getting started.
