[OC]
Visualization tool:
Flourish Interacticve Chart https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27850321/
Data source:
CDC NSFG key statistics-special ACASI tabulation, 2015–2019
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/key_statistics/s.htm
All values are percentages (%) of respondents in each category, based on the CDC NSFG 2015–2019 special tabulation.
The latest publicly available detailed data on sexual attraction in the United States is from the CDC's 2015-2019 National Survey of Family Growth.The NSFG measures sexual attraction as the emotional and physical feelings of individuals, as opposed to their sexual orientation identity or sexual behaviour. There are many individuals who reported “mostly opposite sex” attraction but still identify as heterosexual, which shows attraction and sexual identity are not always the same.
Women show higher level of non-exclusive attraction than men, with many reporting they are attracted primarily to the opposite sex but also to the same sex to some degree. (e.g., notably higher "mostly opposite" at 14.2% vs. men's 4.7%, and "equally to both" at 4.8% vs. 1.1%)
Men tend to be attracted exclusively to members of the opposite sex often (90.6% vs. women's 76.8%); however, there are fewer instances of same-sex attraction for men than among women.
Same-sex attraction is less common overall, with about 1% of respondents indicating difficulty identifying their attraction. Gender patterns remain the same for all previously reported cycles of the NSFG, thereby concluding that women have more variability in sexual attraction than men.
Reference
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC. Key Statistics from the National Survey of Family Growth: Sexual orientation and attraction. Special tabulation, 2015-2019 NSFG (ACASI). https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/key_statistics/s-keystat.htm (accessed March 2026).