What Percentage of People Cheat?

You searched for a number. Here it is: somewhere between 13% and 45% of people cheat, depending on how the question is asked and what counts as cheating. That range is not a cop-out. It is the honest reality of infidelity research.

The General Social Survey — the most respected longitudinal study on this topic — puts the rate of extramarital sex at 20% for married men and 13% for married women. But when researchers expand the definition to include emotional affairs, secret online relationships, and sexual contact short of intercourse, the numbers jump to roughly 45% of men and 35% of women.

Those two data points frame everything that follows. The percentage of people who cheat depends on their gender, their age, how long they have been together, what kind of relationship they are in, what country they live in, and — most critically — what you mean by “cheating” in the first place.

This article breaks down all of it. Every statistic is sourced. Every number comes from published research. If you are here because you suspect something is off in your own relationship, the data below will help you understand what the numbers actually say — and what they do not.

If you would rather skip straight to checking whether a partner has active dating profiles, CheatScanX scans 15+ dating apps in minutes using just a name, email, or phone number. But if you want the full statistical picture first, keep reading.

Cheating Rates by Gender: Men vs. Women

The gender gap in cheating is real, consistent, and smaller than most people assume.

The Core Numbers

According to the General Social Survey (GSS, 2022), 20% of married men and 13% of married women report having had sex with someone other than their spouse during their marriage. That 7-percentage-point gap has held roughly steady across GSS data for the past two decades.

Among unmarried couples, the rates shift. The Kinsey Institute reports that 23% of men and 19% of women in unmarried relationships have cheated — narrowing the gap to just 4 points. If you are worried about a partner who is not yet a spouse, the same patterns that apply to married couples also show up in dating relationships — often at higher rates. You can catch a cheater online without needing access to their devices.

When you include emotional affairs and forms of intimacy beyond intercourse, the numbers change dramatically. Research compiled by the Institute for Family Studies indicates approximately 45% of men and 35% of women have engaged in some form of infidelity during a committed relationship.

The Gender Gap Is Shrinking

Among younger adults, the gap between men and women has nearly disappeared. GSS data shows that in the 18-29 age bracket, 11% of women report cheating compared to 10% of men — making women slightly more likely to be unfaithful in this age group.

Among millennials specifically, the gap has narrowed to roughly 15.9% for men and 13% for women (Institute for Family Studies, 2024). This represents a significant shift from older generations, where men cheated at nearly double the rate of women.

Several factors drive this convergence:

• Workforce participation. Women now spend as much time in workplaces as men, creating more opportunity for outside relationships. Research shows 31% of affairs begin at work.
• Financial independence. Women with their own income face fewer economic barriers to acting on dissatisfaction.
• Digital access. Dating apps and social media have equalized access to potential partners. Our breakdown of dating app cheating statistics shows how technology has reshaped infidelity patterns.
• Shifting norms around reporting. Women may feel less stigmatized about admitting to infidelity on surveys than they did in previous decades.

The Type of Cheating Differs by Gender

Men and women do not just cheat at different rates. They tend to cheat in different ways.

Data from the Institute for Family Studies shows that men account for 75% of sex-only affairs, while women account for 56% of emotional-only affairs. Combined sexual-and-emotional affairs split more evenly, with men representing 56%.

A Chapman University study of 64,000 Americans found that 54% of heterosexual men said a partner's sexual infidelity would upset them more than emotional cheating. For heterosexual women, 65% said the reverse — emotional infidelity felt more threatening than a purely physical affair.

This difference in perception matters because it influences what people consider “cheating” in the first place, which is one of the reasons the headline percentage varies so much between studies. If you have noticed signs your husband is cheating on Tinder or through other digital channels, both physical and emotional infidelity may be in play.

Cheating Rates by Age Group

Infidelity does not hit every age group equally. The numbers follow a distinct pattern — and it is not the pattern most people expect.

The Age-by-Age Breakdown

The Institute for Family Studies analyzed GSS data to produce one of the most detailed age breakdowns available. Here is what the data shows for ever-married adults who report having had extramarital sex:

Source: Institute for Family Studies analysis of General Social Survey data, 2024

What the Numbers Tell Us

For men: Cheating rates climb steadily from the late 20s, peak in the 50-59 bracket at 28%, dip slightly in the 60s, then plateau through the 70s and 80s. The male cheating rate never drops below 24% after age 50.

For women: Rates also climb through middle age, peaking at 17% in the 50-59 bracket and 16% in the 60s. Then they drop sharply — to 6% among women in their 70s and 80s.

That divergence after 60 is one of the most striking patterns in infidelity research. The gender gap at age 80+ is 18 percentage points — the largest at any age. Researchers attribute this partly to generational attitudes (women in their 70s and 80s grew up in an era with stronger social stigma around female infidelity) and partly to differences in health and sexual functioning.

The youngest adults are the exception. In the 18-29 group, women are slightly more likely to cheat than men. This reversal has appeared consistently in recent GSS waves and reflects the broader trend of gender convergence in infidelity rates among younger cohorts.

If you are in your 30s or 40s and notice behavioral changes in your partner, the data confirms that these are the years when infidelity accelerates. Recognizing signs of cheating on a phone can help you distinguish between anxiety and genuine red flags.

Cheating Rates by Generation: Boomers to Gen Z

Age tells part of the story. But generation — the cultural context people grew up in — adds another layer.

How Each Generation Compares

Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964): This generation reports the highest lifetime infidelity rates. GSS data shows Americans over 55 report the highest rates of extramarital sex overall. Boomers came of age during the sexual revolution and have had more years of marriage in which infidelity could occur.

Generation X (born 1965-1980): Gen X falls in the middle. Their cheating rates track close to the national average. They are also the generation most likely to have engaged in online infidelity or emotional affairs conducted through early internet platforms (Survey Center on American Life, 2024).

Millennials (born 1981-1996): The data on millennials is mixed. The Institute for Family Studies found that 18% of married millennials report infidelity — a rate that actually trails behind Boomers at the same stage of life. The gender gap among millennials has narrowed significantly, with 15.9% of men and 13% of women admitting to cheating.

One widely cited finding: millennials may cheat less not because of stronger moral convictions, but because of exhaustion. The 2024 Aflac WorkForces Report found that 66% of millennials report moderate to high burnout. Less free time and more financial stress may leave fewer opportunities for affairs.

Generation Z (born 1997-2012): A 2024 Newsweek-reported survey found a striking claim: 93% of Gen Z respondents reported some form of cheating. Before you accept that number at face value, context matters. Gen Z defines cheating more broadly than any previous generation — 48% said even a nonphysical relationship counts as cheating. This inflated self-report rate reflects a wider net, not necessarily more behavior.

Only 43% of Gen Z said cheating has to be physical to count. Compare that with older generations, where the majority define infidelity as sexual intercourse with another person. When you measure Gen Z against the same physical-only standard used in the GSS, their rates are comparable to — or lower than — previous generations at the same age.

The Generational Definition Shift

This is the single most important factor when reading cheating statistics across generations: each generation is answering a different question.

When a Boomer reports “I have not cheated,” they typically mean “I have not had sex with someone else.” When a Gen Z respondent reports “I have cheated,” they might mean “I had a flirtatious text thread I kept secret from my partner.”

Both answers are honest. But they are measuring fundamentally different things. That is why comparing raw percentages across generations produces misleading conclusions. For a deeper look at how emotional boundaries are shifting, see our guide on signs of emotional cheating through texting.

Cheating Rates by Relationship Type

Not all relationships face the same infidelity risk. The data shows a clear hierarchy.

Married vs. Dating vs. Cohabiting

The National Health and Social Life Survey measured annual infidelity rates across three relationship types. The results show a steep gradient:

Source: National Health and Social Life Survey

These are annual rates — the percentage who cheated within the past year — not lifetime rates. The lifetime numbers are considerably higher, but the same pattern holds: dating relationships experience the most infidelity, followed by cohabiting relationships, with married couples reporting the least.

Why Marriage Has Lower Rates

The lower rates among married couples likely reflect multiple factors working together:

1. Selection effect. People who marry tend to be more committed to monogamy. The institution itself selects for people inclined toward fidelity.
2. Social and legal consequences. Divorce is expensive, messy, and public. The cost of getting caught is higher.
3. Shared infrastructure. Joint finances, children, and mutual social networks create practical barriers to infidelity.
4. Survivorship bias. Marriages where cheating occurs are more likely to end. The people still married at any given time are disproportionately the faithful ones.

Cohabiting Relationships: The Middle Ground

Cohabiting couples cheat at roughly four times the rate of married couples (16% vs. 4% for men annually). This gap persists even after controlling for relationship length and satisfaction.

YouGov survey data shows a similar pattern when measuring current-relationship infidelity. Among adults who say they have cheated on their current partner: 36% are in casual relationships, 26% are cohabiting, and 13% are married.

If you are in a committed but unmarried relationship and something feels off, you are not being unreasonable. The data shows these relationships do face higher infidelity risk. Our guide on suspecting cheating with no proof covers what to do when you cannot point to a specific smoking gun.

Same-Sex Relationships

Data on infidelity in same-sex relationships is limited but growing. The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior found the following rates of nonconsensual nonmonogamy (cheating, not including open relationships):

• Gay men: 14%
• Lesbian women: 6%
• Bisexual adults: 18%
• Heterosexual adults: 8%

An important distinction: 32% of gay male participants and 5% of lesbian participants reported consensual open relationships. These are not infidelity. When researchers separate consensual nonmonogamy from actual cheating, the picture shifts — particularly for gay men, whose infidelity rates are lower than their open-relationship rates suggest.

Trends over time are encouraging. Research shows the percentage of gay men cheating on partners dropped from 83% to 59% between 1975 and 2000. Among lesbians, the rate fell from 28% to 8%.

Cheating Rates by Relationship Length

How long you have been together matters. The seven-year itch is not just a movie title — there is data behind it.

The Seven-Year Peak

A study of 313 adults published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy found that infidelity thoughts and behavior peak around year seven of marriage. The pattern varies by gender:

• Women reported the greatest likelihood of cheating in intermediate-length marriages (6-10 years). Their infidelity risk followed a curve: lower in short-term marriages, highest in the middle, then declining in long-term marriages.
• Men showed an initial rise around year seven, a dip until around year 18, then a second rise for those married 30+ years.

This timeline aligns with U.S. Census Bureau data showing that the average divorcing couple was married for eight years — just past the infidelity peak.

Why Year Seven?

Several factors converge around this point:

• The end of novelty. By year seven, the neurochemical rush of early attachment has long faded. Routine has set in. Partners who mistake the absence of excitement for the absence of love become vulnerable to outside attention.
• Life stress peaks. Couples married seven years often have young children, mortgage pressure, and career demands that strain connection. Emotional distance creates openings.
• Enough time to build resentment. Small grievances that go unaddressed for years can accumulate into a general dissatisfaction that makes infidelity feel justified.

Long-Term Relationships Are Not Safe Either

The seven-year peak does not mean the danger passes. Research consistently shows that the longer a couple has been together, the more likely at least one partner has considered or engaged in infidelity. The cumulative probability simply increases with time — more years means more opportunities, more life changes, and more potential points of vulnerability.

For men specifically, the data shows a second infidelity peak in marriages lasting 30+ years. This “gray infidelity” pattern corresponds to empty-nest transitions, retirement, and late-life reassessment.

Dating Apps and the New Infidelity Timeline

Dating apps have added a variable that did not exist when most infidelity research began. The Survey Center on American Life found that more than 1-in-10 married adults under 40 use dating apps. That statistic alone reshapes the relationship-length picture.

In the pre-digital era, starting an affair required physical opportunity — a coworker, a neighbor, someone at a social event. That opportunity tended to increase gradually over years, which is partly why infidelity peaked slowly around year seven.

Dating apps compress that timeline. A person can create a profile and begin receiving matches within minutes, from the privacy of a bathroom or a parked car. The barrier to entry has collapsed. Whether this accelerates the infidelity timeline in newer marriages is an open question, but the opportunity is certainly there earlier than it used to be. For more on how technology is changing the cheating picture, see our full analysis of dating app cheating statistics.

How Relationship Satisfaction Shifts Over Time

The infidelity-timeline data makes more sense when paired with research on relationship satisfaction. Studies consistently show that marital satisfaction follows a U-shaped curve: high in the first few years, declining through the child-rearing years, and recovering (for couples who stay together) after children leave home.

The infidelity peak at year seven corresponds almost exactly to the bottom of that satisfaction curve. Partners are not simply tempted by novelty. They are also experiencing the lowest point in relationship happiness — a combination that makes outside attention far more appealing.

If you are years into a relationship and your gut feeling says something is wrong, the statistics validate your concern. Infidelity risk does not decline just because a relationship has survived its first decade.

Cheating Rates by Country: A Global Comparison

Infidelity is not distributed evenly around the world. Cultural norms, religious influence, gender equality, and legal frameworks all shape how common — and how honestly reported — cheating is in different countries.

The Highest and Lowest Rates

Data compiled by World Population Review and the 2022 BedBible international survey shows wide variation:

Highest infidelity rates:

Lowest infidelity rates:

Source: World Population Review / BedBible International Survey, 2022

The United States sits at approximately 35%, placing it in the upper-middle range globally.

What Explains the Variation?

Cultural attitudes toward sex. Northern European countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) show high infidelity rates paired with liberal attitudes toward sexuality. These cultures may produce more honest survey responses as much as they produce more actual cheating.

Gender equality. Nordic countries — where men and women cheat at nearly equal rates — also rank highest in global gender equality indexes. When women have the same economic independence, workplace access, and social freedom as men, the opportunity gap closes.

Religious influence. Countries with strong religious observance (Poland at 16%, Turkey at 27%) tend to report lower rates. Whether this reflects genuine behavioral differences or stronger social pressure to underreport is debated. The IFS found that Americans who rarely attend religious services are significantly more likely to cheat than regular attendees.

Survey methodology. These international comparisons should be read with caution. Different countries use different survey methods, sample sizes, and definitions of infidelity. A 53% rate in Russia and a 10% rate in Uruguay are not measured with the same ruler.

Where the U.S. Falls — and What That Means

The United States consistently ranks in the upper third of international infidelity surveys, with rates between 35% and 40% depending on the study. That places the U.S. above the United Kingdom (36%), roughly equal to the Netherlands (35%) and Brazil (35%), and well below Thailand (51%) and Russia (53%).

The American rate is shaped by a paradox. U.S. culture places exceptionally high value on romantic fidelity — surveys show Americans are among the most likely to say extramarital sex is “always wrong.” Yet the behavioral data tells a different story. This gap between stated values and actual behavior is wider in the U.S. than in many European countries, where attitudes toward infidelity are more permissive but reported rates are similar.

One explanation: the U.S. has both high expectations for monogamy and high opportunity for infidelity. A large, mobile workforce, widespread dating app adoption, and cultural emphasis on individual fulfillment create conditions where affairs are both condemned and common.

The Reporting Honesty Question

Countries with the lowest reported infidelity rates also tend to have the strongest social or legal penalties for adultery. In some nations, adultery is still a criminal offense. In cultures where family honor is closely tied to sexual fidelity, admitting to cheating — even anonymously — carries psychological weight that suppresses honest reporting.

Conversely, countries with very high reported rates (Denmark, Norway, France) tend to have cultures where discussing sexuality openly is normalized. Their high numbers may partly reflect greater honesty rather than greater cheating.

This means the international rankings tell you as much about cultural openness as they do about actual behavior. The safest conclusion: infidelity is common everywhere, but the willingness to admit it varies dramatically.

How the Definition of Cheating Changes the Numbers

This is the section that explains why “what percentage of people cheat” does not have a single answer. The number changes based on what you are measuring.

Physical-Only Definitions: 13-20%

When surveys ask specifically about sexual intercourse with someone other than a spouse, the numbers are lowest. The GSS's 20% for men and 13% for women fall into this category. These are the most conservative and most commonly cited figures.

Including All Sexual Contact: 20-25%

When the definition expands to include sexual activity beyond intercourse — oral sex, heavy physical intimacy, sexual touching — the rates increase by several percentage points. Approximately 20-25% of marriages experience some form of physical infidelity under this broader definition.

Including Emotional Affairs: 35-45%

This is where the numbers make a significant jump. The IFS found that 7% of married people report purely emotional affairs (no physical component), 5% report physical-only affairs, and 10% report combined emotional-and-physical affairs. That means 22% of married people report some type of affair — and that only counts those who classify their behavior as an “affair.”

When surveys ask about broader emotional infidelity — maintaining a secret emotional relationship, confiding in someone else at a level that undermines the primary relationship — the rates climb to roughly 45% of men and 35% of women.

Including Digital Behavior: Higher Still

Once you add secretive dating app use, sexting, flirtatious messaging, and maintaining active profiles on platforms like Tinder or Bumble, the numbers rise again. The Survey Center on American Life found that more than 1-in-10 married adults under 40 use dating apps. Our detailed look at apps cheaters commonly use covers which platforms show up most often.

Research shows that 71% of adults aged 18-24 consider having a dating app while in a relationship to be cheating, compared to just 56% of those over 65. This generational split in what “counts” explains much of the variation in reported cheating rates.

What Most People Consider Cheating

The IFS surveyed a national sample of 2,000 adults and asked directly which behaviors constitute infidelity:

Source: Institute for Family Studies, 2024

Women are consistently more likely to classify non-physical behaviors as cheating. For example, 88% of women consider kissing someone else to be cheating, compared to 73% of men. This perception gap means that when a woman says “my partner cheated,” she may be describing a behavior that her partner would not categorize the same way.

That disconnect — not the behavior itself — is often what fractures relationships. If you are unsure whether what you have found crosses a line, our is my partner cheating quiz can help you assess the situation against common behavioral patterns.

The “Once a Cheater” Question: Serial Infidelity Rates

One of the most common follow-up questions after “how many people cheat?” is “will they do it again?”

What the Research Shows

A longitudinal study from the University of Denver tracked 484 adults through two consecutive romantic relationships. The headline finding: people who cheated in their first relationship were three times more likely to cheat in their next relationship compared to those who remained faithful.

That sounds definitive. But the study also found that most people who cheated in relationship one did not cheat in relationship two. The elevated risk is real, but the outcome is not predetermined.

Other studies produce a range of repeat-infidelity estimates:

• 22% of cheaters report cheating again in a subsequent relationship (lower-bound estimate)
• 55% of cheaters repeat (upper-bound estimate from some surveys)
• 67% of men and 53% of women who cheated on a spouse reported doing so more than once within the same marriage

The variation depends on whether you are measuring “cheated again in the next relationship” (lower) or “cheated more than once within the same relationship” (higher). Within a single marriage, repeat infidelity is common. Across relationships, it is elevated but not inevitable.

Risk Factors for Repeat Cheating

The Denver study and subsequent research identified several factors that increase the likelihood of serial infidelity:

• Low relationship satisfaction in the new relationship. Cheaters who enter a new partnership that is also unsatisfying are more likely to repeat.
• Lack of accountability. Partners who never acknowledged or processed their infidelity carry the same patterns forward.
• Opportunity. People in environments with high access to potential partners (certain workplaces, active social media use, frequent travel) face ongoing temptation.
• Attachment style. Avoidant attachment patterns correlate with both initial and repeat infidelity.

If you are deciding whether to stay with someone who has cheated, the raw statistic (“3x more likely”) is less useful than understanding the specific circumstances. Did they take responsibility? Did both partners address the underlying issues? A blanket prediction is not possible from population-level data alone.

Cheating Rates by Race, Education, and Other Demographics

Beyond gender and age, several other demographic factors correlate with infidelity rates.

Race and Ethnicity

The IFS analysis of GSS data found meaningful differences:

• Black adults: 22% of ever-married Black Americans report cheating (28% of Black men)
• White adults: 16% overall (20% of white men)
• Hispanic adults: 13% overall (16% of Hispanic men)

These differences persist after controlling for income and education, suggesting that cultural attitudes and community norms play a role beyond socioeconomic factors.

Education

Education shows almost no relationship to cheating rates. The IFS found:

• College-educated: 16%
• Some college: 18%
• High school or less: 15%

This is one of the few demographic variables that does not meaningfully predict infidelity. A PhD and a high-school diploma carry the same statistical cheating risk.

Family Background

Growing up in an intact two-parent household correlates with slightly lower infidelity rates: 15% for those raised in intact families vs. 18% for those who were not. The effect is modest but consistent.

Religious Attendance

This is one of the strongest predictors. Americans who attend religious services regularly cheat at significantly lower rates than those who rarely or never attend. The IFS found this held true for both men and women across all age groups.

Occupation and Income

Research shows that 37% of people in top management positions have engaged in infidelity — a rate significantly higher than the general population. Financial power and workplace autonomy appear to correlate with increased opportunity and, in some cases, a sense of entitlement.

People who are financially dependent on their spouses also show elevated rates. One study found that financially dependent men are 15% more likely to cheat, possibly because infidelity functions as a way to reassert independence or masculinity.

Why These Numbers Might Be Wrong

Every statistic in this article comes with a caveat. Cheating is one of the hardest human behaviors to measure accurately, and every study faces the same core problems.

The Underreporting Problem

All major infidelity surveys rely on self-reporting. People have strong incentives to lie — even on anonymous surveys. Social desirability bias pushes reported rates downward. The real rates are almost certainly higher than any published figure.

Research supports this. A study comparing self-reported infidelity to lie-detector-verified responses found significant underreporting, particularly among women. When researchers assured complete anonymity and used indirect questioning techniques, reported rates increased.

The Definition Problem

As covered above, changing the definition of cheating can double or triple the reported rate. Studies that ask about “extramarital sex” capture a narrow slice of infidelity. Studies that ask about “any form of unfaithfulness” capture a much wider one. When reading any cheating statistic, the first question to ask is: “What definition did this study use?”

The Recall Problem

The GSS asks people whether they have ever had extramarital sex during their marriage. For someone who is 75 years old, that is a question spanning decades. Memory is unreliable over those timescales. Some respondents may forget, minimize, or reframe past behavior.

The Selection Problem

People who agree to participate in relationship surveys may differ systematically from those who refuse. If people currently having affairs are less likely to participate in research (out of guilt, secrecy, or time constraints), the study sample is biased toward the faithful.

What to Take Away

The specific percentages matter less than the patterns:

• Men cheat more than women, but the gap is closing
• Cheating increases with age, peaks in middle age, and remains common in later decades
• Married couples cheat less than dating or cohabiting couples
• The broader the definition, the higher the rate
• Most studies likely undercount

If you are trying to figure out whether your own partner is being faithful, population statistics can only tell you so much. The question is not “what percentage of people cheat” but “is my partner cheating.” For that, behavioral signs and direct evidence matter more than averages.

Our guide on how to catch a cheating husband outlines what to look for. You can also check if your partner is on dating sites or search dating profiles by name for more direct answers.

Common Misconceptions About Cheating Statistics

Statistics get misquoted, misinterpreted, and stripped of context. Here are the claims that mislead people most often.

“50% of all marriages involve cheating”

This figure appears across social media and clickbait articles. No major peer-reviewed study supports a 50% infidelity rate among married couples. The GSS — the gold standard for U.S. data — consistently puts the combined rate at approximately 16% of ever-married adults reporting extramarital sex. Even with the broadest definition including emotional affairs, the figure reaches 20-25% of marriages, not 50%.

“70% of Americans cheat”

This number comes from a single international survey that used an extremely broad definition of “cheating” and a non-representative sample. When rigorous methodology is applied, approximately one-third (33%) of Americans who have been in a monogamous relationship report any form of cheating — physical, emotional, or both (YouGov, 2024). That is a meaningful number, but it is not 70%.

“Women cheat just as much as men now”

Close to true for the youngest cohort, but not true overall. Among adults 18-29, the rates have converged. But across all age groups combined, men still report infidelity at roughly 1.5x the rate of women. The gap is shrinking, but it has not disappeared.

“Cheaters always cheat again”

The University of Denver study found that cheaters are 3x more likely to cheat again — but that means most first-time cheaters do not repeat the behavior in their next relationship. A history of cheating is a risk factor, not a sentence. Context, accountability, and the quality of the new relationship all matter.

“You can always tell”

Research on suspicion accuracy suggests that women who suspect infidelity are correct 79-85% of the time, and men who suspect it are correct 50-62% of the time. Those accuracy rates are high — but they also mean that 15-50% of suspicions are wrong.

The picture is further complicated by the fact that 56% of men and 34% of women who cheat rate their marriages as “happy” (South Denver Therapy, 2026). A content-seeming partner is not necessarily a faithful one. And an anxious partner is not necessarily being cheated on. If you are wondering whether you are paranoid or picking up on real signs, a data-driven approach is more reliable than intuition alone.

“Happy couples don’t cheat”

That 56% statistic bears repeating. More than half of cheating men describe their marriages as happy. For women, the number is lower (34%), suggesting that female infidelity correlates more strongly with relationship dissatisfaction. But the data is clear: satisfaction is not a reliable predictor of fidelity, and a good relationship is not an automatic shield against cheating.

Research from the Institute for Family Studies found that the strongest predictors of infidelity are not relationship quality but individual factors: prior cheating history, low religiosity, opportunity (frequent travel, workplace autonomy), and attachment style. These personal variables matter more than how happy the couple appears to be.

Moving From Statistics to Answers

Numbers tell you what is common. They do not tell you what is happening in your relationship.

If you are reading this article because you suspect infidelity, here is what the data supports: your concern is statistically reasonable. Between 13% and 45% of people in committed relationships cross a line — and most keep it secret for as long as they can.

The next step depends on what kind of answer you need. If you want to know whether a specific person has active profiles on Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, or any of the other major dating platforms, CheatScanX can search 15+ apps using just a name, email, or phone number. Results come back in minutes. You can also find out if your partner is on dating apps or read about what to do if your partner is on a dating app before deciding your next move.

Whatever the data shows, the decision about what to do with it is yours alone.