Reddit Study on Ideal Penis Size Surprisingly Consistent With Science

“Am I normal? Will that be enough?”

These are questions that everyone with a penis has asked themselves in the shower or while sprucing up for a date. Penis size is a common cause of worry for anyone who’s unsure of their own body or is trying to determine how they fit into the grand scheme of things.

Recently, Reddit users took a scientific approach to this ubiquitous concern by surveying 761 participants about not only their actual penis length and circumference but also their ideal, desired penis measurements. On Wednesday, a redditor posted the results of the survey on the popular data visualization subreddit “Data Is Beautiful.” They are consistent with what scientists have determined about ideal dick size in more academic settings.

The results of the survey — which are actually SFW, containing only some sexy charts — boil down into four graphs outlining the distribution of average and desired penis measurements. Each of the four graphs considers some parameter: “Dong Availability” (the actual measurements of dongs out there), “Females Want” (what female users wanted), “Males Want” (what men wished they had), or “Others Want.” People provided their own measurements, so the data should to be taken with a grain of salt.

How penis length measured up in the Reddit survey.

The fifth chart takes all that data and presents them in heat map format, showing the final “Distribution of Wants vs. Haves.”

Petition to add "Dong Availability" to the academic scientific lexicon.

According to the charts, the average Reddit participant dingus is between six and seven inches long and five to six inches around. That matches pretty well to the typical schlong that female users desired, but men wanted partners sporting dicks measuring one inch longer than that, on average.

It turns out that these preferences and averages are also well documented within the realm of academic science, as many researchers in need of a new publication on their resume seem to have whipped out their trusty ol’ measuring tape and set out in search of dong data. And the results of this Reddit survey seem to be pretty consistent with what they’ve found.

The sample sizes in a 2015 study published in BJU International measured just shy of 700 erect penis lengths and just under 400 circumferences. Of those numbers, the average length was about 5.17 inches, and the average circumference was 4.59 inches.

According to that study, the typical redditor’s penis is in the ballpark but have an above-average girth. However, the redditor who compiled the data suggests that some responders may have gotten circumference confused with width or some other measurement, as the data seemed skewed at first glance — with many saying they thought women preferred particularly narrow peens.

Another 2015 report published in PLoS One explained that women who selected their favorite among a set of 3D models reportedly wanted their one-time partners to have a penis that was 6.4 inches long and 5.0 inches around, while they wanted long-term to have a 6.3-inch-long willie with a circumference of 4.8 inches. These two studies are consistent with the vast wealth of penis data snaking through various academic and medical journals, though some researchers have admitted that their measurements could have been more precise — perhaps, they suggest, measurements would have been just a little longer if they held the tape measure closer to their pubis.

To the relief of anxious teenage boys everywhere, the data reinforces Reddit’s finding that the average penis seems to match up to what people say they want from their partners.

But for those who still face small penis anxiety, try not to worry too much. After all, if the President of the United States needs to wear a long, red tie to point out to the world that he does, in fact, have a penis, then you can’t be doing all that bad.

Photos via Reddit / SaintUpid, Flickr / vlauria, Flickr / dominicotine

Dan is a neuroscientist-turned-journalist based in New York. His freelance work has appeared in Scientific American. When he's not reporting, he's probably getting beat up at a fencing practice.