Who's Having the Most Sex?

by Anneli Rufus Info

Anneli Rufus is the author of many books, including Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto and the Nautilus Award-winning Stuck: Why We Don't (or Won't) Move On, and the coauthor of still more, including Weird Europe and The Scavengers' Manifesto. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, including Chinese and Latvian. In 2006, she won a Society of Professional Journalists award for criticism.

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Do you have a Masters degree? Are you Jewish? How much do you weigh? Anneli Rufus on 15 ways to tell if you’re getting lucky more—or less—frequently than the rest of us.

1. Approximately half of all Americans say they have sex at least once a week.

An international survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Durex condom company also found that Nigerians and Americans are tied neck-and-neck in sexual frequency: 53 percent of Nigerians and Americans claim to do it at least once a week, compared to 78 percent of Chinese and a whopping 87 percent of Greeks. Who has more fun? At 67 percent, Nigeria's sexual-satisfaction rate topped the survey's 26 nations, compared to 40 percent in Britain and Australia, 25 percent in France, and 15 percent in Japan. "The Japanese have paper walls in their houses, live with their parents, and work long hours," surmises sexologist Dr. Susan Block, who has been featured on HBO's Real Sex and Cathouse.

Carl Latkin et al. (2008): The Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey

2. Men have 16 percent more sex than women do.

According to a University of Chicago study, men claim to have sex 66.5 times a year, while women claim to have sex 57.2 times a year. That might be because men traditionally overreport their sexual activity while women traditionally underreport theirs. Kinsey Institute sexual health educator Debby Herbenick says it might also be because "men are socialized to feel that sex is OK, while women are still being socialized to put on the brakes."

James Davis et al. (2006): American Sexual Behavior: Trends, Socio-Demographic Differences, and Risk Behavior. National Opinion Research Center/University of Chicago General Social Survey Topical Report No.

3. Jews and agnostics are 20 percent more sexually active than Catholics and Protestants.

The study that produced this statistic also found that Baptists have slightly more sex than the national average, while "Presbyterians and Lutherans are slightly below average." "There's more shame and guilt with the Christian religions," says Herbenick, who is also the author of Because It Feels Good: A Woman's Guide to Sexual Pleasure and Satisfaction. "The Jewish religion tends to be more permissive about sexuality." Another study found that over twice as many observant married Jewish women reported having sex three to six times per week as married women in general.

John Robinson and Godbey, G. (1998): No Sex, Please ... We're College Graduates. American Demographics, 20 (18-23)

Ellen Labinsky et al. (2009): Observant Married Jewish Women and Sexual Life: An Empirical Study. Conversations 5, 37-59 ---

4. People with Associate in Arts degrees have 32 percent more sex than people with advanced college degrees and people who did not finish high school.

According to a University of Chicago study, those with graduate degrees and those who never finished high school are tied, both groups claiming to have sex on average about once a week or 52 times per year. But those with Associate in Arts degrees claim to have sex 69.5 times per year.

James Davis et al. (2006): American Sexual Behavior: Trends, Socio-Demographic Differences, and Risk Behavior. National Opinion Research Center/University of Chicago General Social Survey Topical Report No. 25

5. Miami residents are 59 percent more sexually active than residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Conducted by the research firm StrategyOne for Trojan Brand Condoms, the Degrees of Pleasure Study examined "Americans' sexual habits and preferences as they relate to temperatures and weather phenomena." On average, Miamians claim to have sex 102 times a year, compared to New Yorkers' 85 times, San Franciscans' 72 times, and Twin Cityites' 64 times. Miamians also reported the nation's longest sex sessions: 35 minutes on average, compared to Seattleites' 27, Chicagoans' 26, and Phoenixers' 25.

Trojan's Degrees of Pleasure Study (2010)

6. African-Americans have 8.2 percent more sex than Caucasians.

The study that produced this statistic found that, on average, African-Americans reported having sex 65.8 times per year, while Caucasians reported having sex 60.8 times a year. Another study found that 25 percent of African-American men claim to spend at least an hour on each of their sexual encounters, compared to 19.4 percent of white men and 15.9 percent of Hispanic men. "I would be surprised if that many men really spend that long having sex," Herbenick says. "People have lives." She's intrigued by data examining different types of sex acts by race. "White Americans are more likely to engage in oral sex, and in some parts of the country Hispanics are more likely to engage in anal sex, perhaps as a way to preserve vaginal virginity."

James Davis et al. (2006): American Sexual Behavior: Trends, Socio-Demographic Differences, and Risk Behavior. National Opinion Research Center/University of Chicago General Social Survey Topical Report No. 25

Edward Laumann et al. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994, p. 94 ---