What is the Most Common Sexual Activity? Statistics on Sexual Norms and Behavior
By Bedbible Research Center / March 09, 2023
This article presents the findings of how common different sexual activities are. The dataset of 6,000+ respondents is based on a nationally representative sample. Respondents were randomly collected through both online and offline surveys. The collection methodology does not mean that any biased is stripped from the analysis or the findings. As sexual activity levels on different types of activities are all self-reported it naturally exposes the survey to subjective biases, such as self-affirmation or social-desirability bias. However, the study does present the biggest and most comprehensive study of a nationally representative sample, making it the most accurate estimate of sexual norms and behaviors in the US population.
Please reference any use of the below statistics, findings, and insights. To gain access to the full dataset please contact researchcenter@bedbible.com.
Key statistics
- The most common sexual activity is vaginal sex, with 52.4% of respondents reporting they have it monthly.
- 35% of Americans receive oral sex at least once a month, making it the second most common sexual act.
- Almost half of Americans have had sex in public at some point (but only 1.2% report to do it at least once a month)
- Bondage play is more common than having sex in public.
- Spanking is more common than anal sex.
- People ages 18-24 are more likely to wear sexy underwear for a partner, than masturbate in front of them (the opposite is true for any other age group).
Most common sexual activity
To find the most common sexual activity we looked at the activity that most people reported to do regardless of the specific frequency.
More specifically we looked at three different reported rates of frequency of the 50+ reported kinds of sexual activity, by activities respondents reported to engage in at least 1) once a month, 2) once a year, or 3) ever tried it
Note: “Ever tried it” have been denoted as “Ever” and is simply a category for people who have tried a sexual activity, but don’t indulge in the activity once every year (but fewer times, or only one time even). Additionally, All categorized, should be understood as a “bare minimum” rule. Meaning, that respondents answer yes to once a year if they think they do it up till 11 times a year, but if they do it 12 times a year they instead choose the “Once a month” category.
From the dataset we find that:
- The most common sexual activity is vaginal sex who 52.4% report to have at least every month, 64.1% reported to have at least once a year, and 88.5% reported that they have had vaginal sex.
- The second most common sexual activity is receiving oral sex who 35% report to receive at least every month, 54.8% reported to receive at least once a year, and 84.8% reported that had received oral sex at least once.
- The third most common sexual activity is giving oral sex who 34.9% report to give at least every month, 54.6% reported to give it at least once a year, and 82.7% reported that had given oral sex at least once.
- The forth most common sexual activity is masturbating with a partner who 18.8% report to do at least every month, 33.2% reported to do it at least once a year, and 55.2% reported that had masturbated with a partner at least once.
| Type of partnered sexual activity | At least once a month | At least once a year | Ever tried it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vaginal intercourse | 52.4% | 64.1% | 88.5% |
| Received oral sex | 35% | 54.8% | 84.8% |
| Gave partner oral sex | 34.9% | 54.6% | 82.7% |
| Masturbated with someone | 18.8% | 33.2% | 55.2% |
| Worn sexy underwear | 10.3% | 22.7% | 51.8% |
| Masturbated in front of partner | 10.2% | 20.6% | 41.5% |
| Spanked or been spanked | 8.1% | 17.2% | 31.9% |
| Received anal sex | 3.5% | 8.7% | 23.8% |
| Whipped or been whipped | 2.5% | 6% | 15% |
| Role played with partner | 2.2% | 7.6% | 23.7% |
| Licked partner’s feet | 1.6% | 5.3% | 18% |
| Bondage play | 1.3% | 4.5% | 21.1% |
| Had sex in public | 1.2% | 5.3% | 44.1% |
Sexual activity, by gender – men vs. women
First we took at look at how common different sexual activities were for men and women on a monthly basis (or more frequent):
For men the most common monthly sexual activity is 1) vaginal sex – 52.1% reported to do this at least once a month, 2) receiving oral sex – 38.4%, 3) giving oral sex – 34%, 4) masturbating with someone – 18.4%, and 5) masturbating in front of a partner – 10.7%.
For women the most common monthly sexual activity is 1) vaginal sex – 52.6% reported to do this at least once a month, 2) giving oral sex – 35.7%, 3) receiving oral sex – 31.8%, 4) masturbating with someone – 19.1%, and 5) wearing sexy underwear – 16.9%.
Next, we took a look at the yearly sexual activity people reported. So the percentage reported is the percent of people who report to at least once a year to indulge in the specific sexual activity.
For men the most common yearly sexual activity is 1) vaginal sex – 65.8% reported to do this at least once a year, 2) receiving oral sex – 60.9%, 3) giving oral sex – 56.7%, 4) masturbating with someone – 35.5%, and 5) masturbating in front of a partner – 21.3%.
For women the most common yearly sexual activity is 1) vaginal sex – 62.4% reported to do this at least once a month, 2) giving oral sex – 52.6%, 3) receiving oral sex – 49.2%, 4) wearing sexy underwear – 35.5%, and 5) masturbating with someone – 31.1%.
Finally, we took at look at the sexual activities that people report to have tried, but not do on a regular basis.
As this is not common in a mere frequency perspective, it still shows how common it is for someone to have tried it.
For men the most common sexual activity to have tried before is 1) vaginal sex – 85.6% reported to do this at least once a year, 2) receiving oral sex – 85%, 3) giving oral sex – 83%, 4) masturbating with someone – 57.5%, and 5) having sex in public – 45.4%.
For women the most common sexual activity to have tried before is 1) vaginal sex – 91.1% reported to do this at least once a month, 2) giving oral sex – 84.6%, 3) receiving oral sex – 82.5%, 4) wearing sexy underwear – 75.4%, and 5) masturbating with someone – 53.1%.
Most common sexual activity by age groups
To look at age group looked at the most common activity, that people for each age group most often do.
Looking at a longer term would highly influence the numbers, as older people are likely to have tried more things sexually.
The top 5 most common activity for 18-24 year olds is:
- Vaginal intercourse
- Gave partner oral sex
- Received oral sex
- Masturbated with someone
- Spanked or been spanked
The top 5 most common activity for 25-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 60-69 year olds is:
- Vaginal intercourse
- Received oral sex
- Gave partner oral sex
- Masturbated with someone
- Masturbated in front of partner
The top 5 most common activity for 50-59, and 70+ year olds is:
- Vaginal intercourse
- Gave partner oral sex
- Received oral sex
- Masturbated with someone
- Worn sexy underwear
Most noticeably, the young people (aged 18-24 year olds) are more commonly spanking or receiving spanking form a partner.
Meanwhile, for the older generation it becomes more common to give a partner oral sex, rather than receiving it.
Additionally, vaginal intercourse becomes up to 3 times less common.
| Type of sex activity (at least once a month) | 18-24 | 25-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaginal intercourse | 45.7% | 70.8% | 70.3% | 62.2% | 51% | 38.4% | 25.9% |
| Gave partner oral sex | 38.8% | 52.1% | 47.3% | 37.8% | 34.4% | 20.7% | 14.7% |
| Received oral sex | 36.1% | 57.1% | 48.1% | 38.6% | 32.5% | 22.5% | 13.9% |
| Received anal sex | 7% | 6.6% | 4.5% | 2.7% | 3.6% | 0.7% | 0.7% |
| Worn sexy underwear or lingerie for a partner | 13.9% | 19% | 14.7% | 8.3% | 10.1% | 4.5% | 1.7% |
| Had sex with someone in public place | 0.6% | 4.3% | 0.4% | 1.8% | 1% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Tied up your partner or been tied up as part of sex | 2.8% | 4.2% | 2.7% | 0.2% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0% |
| Sucked/licked partner’s feet/toes | 1.7% | 3.7% | 2.6% | 1% | 2% | 0.3% | 0.4% |
| Masturbated with someone else (spouse, boy/girlfriend, friend, someone else) | 21.8% | 25.3% | 24.8% | 24.2% | 17.8% | 11.5% | 5.2% |
| Masturbated in front of partner | 8.6% | 20.8% | 15.2% | 11.2% | 9.1% | 4.7% | 3.1% |
| Role played with partner | 3.8% | 5.7% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 1.8% | 0.7% | 0% |
| Playfully whipped or been whipped by partner as part of sex | 3.5% | 6.6% | 3.9% | 3.2% | 1.3% | 0% | 0% |
| Spanked or been spanked as part of sex | 16.2% | 20.3% | 15.2% | 6.6% | 3.6% | 0.6% | 0.2% |
What is normal with regards to other sexual acts?
To further expand on how common different sexual acts are, we also included data on different types of sexual acts, that didn’t necessarily involve something the partners found sexy or appealing to do.
But, still did – and therefore are common sexual practices.
Sex frequency
Overall we found, with regards to the frequency of sex that:
- People from 18 to 29 years old on average have sex 89 times per year (7.4 times per month, 1.7 times per week).
- People from 30 to 39 years old on average have sex 80 times per year (6.7 times per month, 1.5 times per week).
- People from 40-49 years old on average have sex 64 times per year (5.3 times per month, 1.2 times per week).
- People from 50-59 years old on average have sex 46 times per year (3.8 times per month, 0.9 times per week).
- People from 60-69 years old on average have sex 27 times per year (2.3 times per month, every second week).
- People over 70+ years old average have sex 10.4 times per year (0.9 times per month, every fourth week).
Swinging statistics
- 3.6% of people have tried swinging.
- 2,377,485 million americans are active swingers, making swinging relatively common.
BDSM
Masturbation
- 84% of Americans have masturbated at some point.
- The average person is 17 years old when the masturbate the first time.
- 6 out of 10 masturbate twice a week.
