If you are looking for the best side-sleeper mattresses, welcome. You’re in good company, as many of the WIRED Reviews team are also side sleepers. So are most Americans. The numbers vary across studies and depend on how rigidly you define “side sleeper,” but between half and three-quarters of people sleep on their side for at least part of the night.
If you're a side sleeper, you know how crucial it is that your bed keeps your back aligned while the hips and shoulders get some cushioning. Otherwise, it's a disaster. Without enough lumbar support, your middle is sinking in way farther than the rest of your body. Meanwhile, the hips and shoulders get that much more strain placed on them, especially if the bed is not forthcoming with pressure relief. It doesn't paint a cozy picture, which is why we side sleepers want something that accomplishes the lumbar support, pressure relief, and comfortability trifecta.
Many of our testers side-sleep and can speak to the necessity of these mattress performance factors firsthand, including Reviews team director Martin Cizmar and sleep writer Julia Forbes, a certified sleep science coach. It's never so simple as just lying down on a bed and saying “Eureka!” That's why we spend at least a week with each bed to monitor our daily sleep and feelings toward each one. We as a team have collectively spent years testing hundreds of beds. Of those hundreds of options, we whittled it down to our 10 that we wholeheartedly can say are the best mattresses for side sleepers.
Be sure to check out our other sleep guides, including Best Mattresses, Best Organic Mattresses, and the Best Body Pillows for Side Sleepers.
Updated August 2025: We added The WinkBed as our pick for the best mattress for heavy side sleepers and the Wolf Memory Foam Hybrid Premium Firm mattress as our best hybrid mattress pick. We've also added links to stories that explain mattress certifications, research terms to know, and how to clean your mattress.