Sugar Dating Data Report 2026: What Arranged's Member Data Shows

Most numbers you'll find about sugar dating are surveys, estimates or a competitor's marketing. This report is different in one narrow way: everything in it comes from what members actually did on Arranged. Who wrote to whom, who wrote back, who liked which profiles, and which cities people searched.

We've kept it to the figures we can stand behind, said how we counted each one, and pointed out where a number is thin. Where the data turns into advice, we've said so.

How we counted

Source: Arranged's production database, pulled on October 25, 2026. Seed profiles and test accounts are excluded from every figure.

First messages: the first message a man sent to a woman, August 11 to October 25, 2026. That is 1,804 conversations. A reply means she wrote anything back in that conversation. First messages women sent to men are not in this sample.

Distance: the straight-line distance between the two members' profile locations when the first message was sent.

Age gap: the difference in years between his age and hers. The median age gap uses a separate count: 1,864 matches.

Profiles and likes: women's profiles created at least 14 days ago, so new profiles aren't penalised for having had less time. That is 821 profiles. Photo counts are public photos only.

City searches: location searches run on Arranged in the 30 days to October 25, 2026, counted by city.

Rounding: percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Raw counts are shown so you can check the maths.

The summary table

1. A bit more than one in three first messages gets a reply

Of 1,804 first messages from men to women, 671 got a reply: 37%. Among those that were answered, the median wait was about 7 hours. Half of replies came sooner, half later.

We went deeper on what those messages looked like in our first-message study, which used a slightly shorter window. The two patterns that stood out there: openers of 60 to 149 characters were answered 41% of the time against 18% for openers of 150 characters or more, and openers containing a question got replies 50% of the time against 33% without one.

For men: a reply that takes most of a day is normal, not a rejection. Write something short that asks her a question, then give it time.

For women: nearly two thirds of first messages go unanswered, so you're under no obligation to reply to everyone. If one is worth answering, a short reply is enough to get a conversation going.

2. Distance doesn't hurt your chances

This is the finding we'd most like people to take away.

A man writing to a woman more than 1,000 miles away was answered about as often as one writing to someone across town. If anything, the two longer distance bands did slightly better than the two shorter ones, though the local bands are small (around 125 messages each), so we wouldn't read much into a few points either way.

The more striking number is where the messages went. 1,553 of the 1,804 first messages, 86%, crossed 250 miles or more. More than half crossed 1,000. On most dating apps that would be a mismatch. On Arranged it's the normal case, because members fly each other out. That's why distance only breaks ties in how we sort profiles. It never filters anyone out.

For men: don't limit your search to your own city. The woman you'd most like to meet may be a flight away, and the data says she's just as likely to answer.

For women: a message from another state or another country isn't a sign someone isn't serious. It's how most conversations here start. Our guide to dating while traveling covers travel mode and planning a first meeting in a new city. Whoever is traveling, meet somewhere public, tell a friend where you'll be, and arrange your own way back.

3. Age gaps: wide is normal, and the reply rates are mostly flat

The median age of men on Arranged is 39. The median age of women is 26. Across 1,864 matches, the median age gap was 19 years.

Here is how reply rates to men's first messages varied with the gap between his age and hers:

Two things are in this table, and we want to report both honestly.

First, there's a gentle slide from 41% at under 5 years to 36% at 15 to 19, then a clear dip to 26% at 20 to 24 years. Second, the 25+ band, the largest at 557 messages, bounces straight back to 40%.

We don't know why. It could be that men who write across a very wide gap are writing to women who have said that's what they're looking for. It could be that a handful of heavy senders landed in the 20 to 24 band. With about 250 messages in that bucket, a few dozen replies either way would move it a lot. What we can say is that a large age gap on its own didn't stop women replying: the biggest gap band did as well as the smallest.

For men: don't rule yourself out because of age. But make the first message about her, not about the gap. Our earlier look at age gap relationships covers the research side.

For women: be clear on your profile about the age range you're interested in. The data suggests plenty of women do want a wide gap, and plenty don't. Both are fine. Everyone on Arranged is 18 or older.

4. One photo makes the biggest difference

We looked at women's profiles that had been on Arranged for at least 14 days and counted the likes each received in the last 90 days.

The jump from no photo to one photo is the big one: from 2.3 likes to 12.1, roughly five times as many. After that the gains are small. Four or more photos averaged 14.1, not much above two or three.

Prompt answers showed a smaller but real gap. Profiles with at least one answered prompt averaged 11.2 likes in 30 days, against 8.4 for profiles without one. Only 109 of the 821 profiles had answered a prompt, so that comparison rests on a much smaller group.

The usual caution applies. Women who add photos and answer prompts may simply be more active on the app in other ways too, and that activity could be doing some of the work.

For women: add at least one clear public photo. If you have time for one more thing, answer a prompt. It gives men something specific to write about, which, going by the first-message data, is what gets conversations started. These profile examples may help with the words.

For men: we only measured women's profiles here, but there's little reason to think a blank profile works better for you. And when you write to her, her prompt answer is the easiest opener there is.

For a different view of likes, see how many likes it takes to get a match.

5. The cities members search for most

These are the cities searched most often on Arranged in the 30 days to October 25, 2026:

A search for a city isn't the same as members living there. Plenty of these searches are people looking at a place they plan to visit, which fits the distance numbers above. London and Dubai making the top ten points the same way.

Separately, 440 members have set a travel city, to connect with people in a city they're heading to.

For both: if you're going somewhere, set a travel city before you go. If you live in one of these cities, expect more people looking at your area, and more of them visiting.

What this report can't tell you

It's one app. Arranged's members aren't a random sample of everyone who sugar dates, and we wouldn't assume the same figures hold elsewhere.

Every number is a correlation. A pattern in what happened, not proof that changing one thing would change your result.

Some buckets are small. The two local distance bands and the prompt-answer group in particular could shift noticeably with more data.

We only see activity on Arranged. If two people moved their conversation elsewhere, we don't see it.

And none of it predicts what any one person will do.

How to cite this data

You're welcome to use these figures. Please cite them as: Arranged, "Sugar Dating Data Report 2026," getarranged.io, October 2026, and link to this page. If you need a number we haven't published here, get in touch through the site.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of first messages get a reply on Arranged?

37%. Of 1,804 first messages men sent to women between August 11 and October 25, 2026, 671 got a reply. A reply means she wrote anything back in that conversation.

How long does it take to get a reply?

Among first messages that were answered, the median wait was about 7 hours. Our earlier first-message study, over a slightly different window, found 5.5 hours.

Does distance affect whether someone replies?

Not in our data. Messages to women under 25 miles away were answered 35% of the time, and messages to women 1,000 or more miles away 37%. 86% of first messages crossed 250 miles or more.

What is the typical age gap in sugar dating?

On Arranged, the median age gap across 1,864 matches was 19 years. The median man is 39 and the median woman is 26. All members are 18 or older.

Do bigger age gaps get fewer replies?

Mostly no. Reply rates ran from 36% to 41% in most bands, with one dip to 26% at 20 to 24 years. The largest band, 25 years or more, was at 40%. We don't know what caused the dip and would not read it as a rule.

How many photos should I put on my profile?

At least one. Women's profiles with no public photos averaged 2.3 likes in 90 days. With one photo, 12.1. With four or more, 14.1. The first photo made almost all the difference.

Which cities are most popular for sugar dating?

On Arranged, the most-searched cities in the last 30 days were New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Las Vegas, followed by Chicago, London, Atlanta, Houston and Dubai. Searches include people planning visits, not just residents.

Can I use these numbers in an article?

Yes. Cite Arranged, getarranged.io, October 2026, and link to this report.