Best Mattresses of 2023

It can be difficult to find the best mattress for a particular person because comfort and feel are so subjective. For the best outcome, we recommend you lie on a mattress before committing. That said, CR’s engineers and survey teams assess every mattress that comes into CR’s labs for several objective criteria that can define a quality mattress.

Support: A great mattress should help keep your spine aligned throughout the night. For this roundup, we chose mattresses that performed well all-around, for both side sleepers and back sleepers. (But keep in mind, a mattress with a low score for, say, back-sleeper support may, in fact, be a good choice for side sleepers. That’s why it’s important to explore our comprehensive mattress ratings.)

Durability: Mattresses shouldn’t sag, soften, or provide less support after just a few years, so we highlighted those that score well in our durability test, which simulates eight to 10 years of use.

Stability: We look for mattresses with high stability scores, meaning they isolate motion well, so your partner’s movement on one side of the mattress won’t jostle you awake on the opposite side.

Positive feedback on CR’s member surveys: Our member-survey ratings cover thousands of mattresses purchased in the last decade, allowing us to collect the data needed to determine comfort and owner-satisfaction scores according to brand.

CR’s tests show that spending more doesn’t necessarily get you a better night’s sleep. While many of our top mattresses typically cost around $1,000, you can still find a great mattress for a few hundred dollars. In fact, we have two recommended models that cost less than $300. 

That said, we’ve seen some general trends as far as what mattresses tend to offer in different price ranges.

• Less than $600: A number of budget mattresses in our ratings (many of them foam) earn high marks for durability and stabilization. Most of these consist of only one or two layers.
• Between $600 and $1,000: These beds tend to do better overall than cheaper models, especially in support tests. You’ll often start to see more layers in this category, which give a mattress its unique feel.
• Between $1,001 and $2,500: These mattresses tend to include higher-quality materials than lower-priced mattresses and often have more layers. It’s not unusual to find mattress thicknesses of more than 12 inches in this category.
• Above $2,500: All of the adjustable air mattresses in CR’s ratings fall into this price range. The highest-end mattresses typically offer more customization, more layers, and extra touches like tufting, pillow tops, and handles.

There are over 250 mattresses currently in our ratings—each with an Overall Score that is determined, in large part, by its performance on each test: sleeper support, firmness level, stabilization level, and durability. 

To test stability, we drop a 38.5-pound weight onto the mattress and measure the vibrations at the point of impact and across the mattress. This tells us how easily sleepers should be able to shift their weight without disturbing a partner. We also test how well the mattress keeps its shape over time by operating a machine that moves a 300-plus-pound wood roller across the surface of each mattress 30,000 times. 

The ratings for mattress comfort and owner satisfaction included in the Overall Score are based on data from survey results on almost 67,000 mattresses. To learn more about how we test and rate mattresses, check out our mattress buying guide.

We also recently started examining a mattress’s impact on the environment and health—taking into account a range of factors, including materials and construction, durability, owner satisfaction, and shipping footprint. Our Green Choice recommendations are designated with a green leaf icon in our comprehensive ratings and below.

Adjustable air mattresses can be inflated to your desired firmness level using a remote control or smartphone app. For queen or king beds, you can usually opt for separate chambers on each side. So if you’re sleeping with a partner, each of you can select a preferred firmness.

Innerspring mattresses are composed of steel coils topped with layers of cushioning made with either fiber-filled padding or foam. They’re typically a better choice than foam mattresses if you prefer a bit of bounce.

Foam mattresses consist entirely of foam layers. Latex foam mattresses have a somewhat springy feel to them; synthetic foam mattresses (memory foam in particular) tend to lack resilience. You’ll feel as if you’re sleeping “in” the mattress as opposed to on top of it.