Find the Best Mattress for Your Size and Sleep Style

We've conducted rigorous scientific tests on more than 200 innerspring, foam, and adjustable air beds to help you find the right match

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illustration of 3 people in different sleep positions on 3 different beds Illustration: Chris Philpot

Finding the right mattress boils down to your size and sleep style (i.e., whether you sleep on your back or side). But with so many options on the market today, it can be hard to find a mattress that meets your needs—and those of your partner’s, if you don’t sleep alone.

"Lots of mattresses claim high-quality materials and design, and they might spend a lot on marketing, but is it the right mattress for you?" asks Christopher Regan, who oversees CR’s mattress tests.

In our support tests for back sleepers, we use human subjects of small and large stature. Test technicians graph 36 points along the spine using displacement sensors to measure the physical distance between the back and the mattress to analyze whether a mattress maintains the natural curve of the spine.

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For the side-sleeping score, we observe several points along each subject’s spine and measure how much they diverge from a straight line. For a test model to score well, the points must remain fairly parallel to the surface of the mattress.

We average the results of the small and large test subjects to produce a score for average-sized sleepers. A mattress that has great back support for a petite back sleeper may not work for a back sleeper who’s substantially larger.

And while our scientific ratings for support are a good proxy for how well you might sleep on a mattress, we also provide ratings for comfort and satisfaction that come from people who’ve actually lived with these mattresses—for up to 10 years in some cases. Our new comfort and owner satisfaction ratings are based on data from recent surveys on CR members’ experiences with more than 74,000 mattresses purchased within the past decade. We asked members to rate the comfort of their mattress, and used the data to generate ratings by brand and type of mattress. Owner satisfaction is based on a member’s overall judgment of factors such as firmness/softness, value, quality of sleep, and more.

The innerspring, foam, and adjustable air mattresses below that passed our tests with flying colors are from brands, including Avocado, Casper, Essentia, Saatva, and Sleep Number. For a selection of mattresses tailored directly to your needs, try CR’s interactive Mattress Selector.

For a wider range of more than 200 mattresses we’ve tested, check out our complete mattress ratings and consult our mattress buying guide while you shop.

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Tips for Buying a Mattress

Tossing and turning all night? Maybe it’s time for a new mattress. On the "Consumer 101" TV show, CR expert Chris Regan shares tips on what to look for when mattress shopping.
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