Best Mattress for Heavy People for 2024
Out of nearly 300 mattresses, we've found the best options for heavy people.
Our Experts
What to consider
Firmness
Sleeping Position
Feel
Construction
Body Type
Performance
Company Policies
Our Picks
The best mattress for heavier individuals is firm yet comfortable, offering both pressure relief and support. The wrong mattress can result in poor sleep and cause back and neck pain. Many mattresses lack the support needed to provide adequate pressure relief for larger bodies, but we've found the ones that offer both.
With so many options, shopping for your next bed can feel overwhelming. After spending hundreds of hours researching brands and testing over 100 mattresses, I've put together this list of the best mattresses for heavy people. Whether you’re looking for a memory foam mattress or prefer one of the best firm options, there's a mattress for you.
The best mattress for heavy people overall
The Big Fig mattress is an all-around supportive mattress for heavier body types.
The Big Fig mattress takes the crown as our overall top pick for the best mattress for heavy people. It's an ultradurable and supportive mattress designed at every turn with plus-size sleepers in mind. It's also fairly priced compared to other premium, thick hybrid mattresses. We provided a full list of suitable hybrid mattresses that would also be great additions to your bedroom.
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Watch CNET video producer Owen Poole review the best mattresses for heavy people.
Read more: Best Cheap Mattress for 2024
Best mattresses for heavy people for 2024
Big Fig
Best mattress for heavy people
SCORE
- Made with high-quality materials
- Extra-firm edge support
- You can add on a durable Big Fig foundation for $299
- Too firm for petite partners
- Not for people who want a softer mattress
Big Fig mattresses only use the highest quality materials, including over 50% more individually wrapped coils than the average innerspring mattress on the market (1,600 of them, to be exact). Add in its hybrid foam construction, cooling technology and stabilizing tufts, and you have a mattress that caters to heavy people's most important needs. Big Fig is a latex mattress with perforated gel-infused latex foam that allows air to flow freely, increasing overall comfort for heavy sleepers.
Titan Plus Hybrid
Best firm mattress for heavy people
SCORE
- Great for people who want a really firm bed
- An optional temperature-regulating top panel is available for purchase
- It's a well-designed mattress
- Might be too firm for side sleepers
The Titan Plus Hybrid is a gel-infused foam mattress that first presents a full inch of cooling gel memory foam across its top surface. Woven into place beneath that are 2 inches of the company's proprietary TitanFlex foam, which is infused with another patented cooling gel, called TitaniumGel. We also consider Titan one of the best cooling mattresses for heavy people.
This is followed by a remarkable 6 inches of nearly 1,000 supportive coils, finished on the bottom with a final 2 inches of high-density foam for a sturdy and reinforced foundation. The quality craftsmanship, mattress thickness and dedicated support structure coupled with the TitaniumGel-infused TitanFlex foam and top panel option truly make it the best mattress for heavy people in terms of cooling and comfort.
Helix Plus
Best mattress for heavy couples
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SCORE
- Medium firmness is good for almost anyone
- Provides great support for heavy people
- Good pressure relief
- Not the firmest mattress
- You don't sink into the Helix plus mattress
The Helix Plus is rated around medium firm, giving it a comfortable balance between supportive and pressure relieving. It'll be best suited for back, stomach and combination sleepers who need a firmer profile to ensure proper spinal alignment.
Saatva HD
Best pillow top mattress for heavy people
SCORE
- Hypoallergenic cotton cover with a botanical antimicrobial treatment
- 3-inch Euro Pillow Top that's blissful to sink into
- Provides a lot of support for heavy people
- $99 transportation fee for returns
- More expensive than other mattresses for heavy people
- Too firm for strict side sleepers
Finished with strategically placed hand-tufting, as well as a blend of memory foam, the Saatva HD integrates bountifully packed foam edges for excellent support for heavier people all the way around. This helps larger folks get in and out of bed easily while providing more useful space across the bed's surface.
WinkBed Plus
Best mattress for heavy people with back pain
SCORE
- Great for back and stomach sleepers
- Good for alleviating back pain
- Sleeps cool
- Doesn't have a ton of extra pressure relief
- A little more expensive than some
Handmade to order in Wisconsin, the Winkbeds Plus mattress is designed to provide heavy sleepers with uniquely blended foams and inner springs, firm edge support and stellar motion isolation, and it also utilizes sustainably manufactured ingredients, including a chemical-free fire barrier, recycled steel coils and eucalyptus harvested only from forests certified by the Stewardship Council. That's why it's one of the best mattresses for heavy people, especially if you live with back pain.
Amerisleep AS5 Hybrid
Best mattress for heavy side sleepers
SCORE
- You get a ton of pressure relief
- Celliant cover to keep you cool
- Excellent choice for side sleepers
- Not a budget choice
- Slow responding feel is not for everyone
One major highlight of the Amerisleep AS5 mattress is its Celliant-infused cover. The Celliant mattress is recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as a medical device. Its purpose is to absorb your body heat and transfer it back into your body in the form of infrared energy. It helps boost circulation and aids in the recovery process, leaving you feeling refreshed in the morning. Only a handful of beds have this feature, including the Bear mattress.
DreamCloud Premier
Best memory foam mattress for heavy people
SCORE
- One of the most affordable mattresses for heavy people
- Soft cashmere is woven throughout the cover
- Great for side sleepers
- Some off-gassing can be expected
- Not a cooling mattress
- Potentially too soft for strict back and stomach sleepers
Overall, the DreamCloud Premier is a hefty 14-inch thick mattress that isn't designed specifically for plus-size sleepers, but it sure does fill that role. I rate it around a medium to medium-firm on the mattress scale, or a 6 to 7 out of 10 with 10 being the firmest, but heavier sleepers over 230 pounds may find it to be a little softer. This one might be a better mattress for heavy side and combination sleepers. The DreamCloud Premier is an inviting bed and gives you that "ahhh" feel just as you lay down.
Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid
Best value mattress for heavy people
SCORE
- Three firmness levels
- Great for every body type
- Neutral foam feel
- The firmest option is still softer than other mattresses
- Not for people who want a memory foam feel
The Brooklyn Bedding Signature bed is offered in three different firmness levels, so any sleeping position from stomach sleepers to side sleepers can find a mattress they like. I recommend the firm model to most heavy sleepers unless you strictly sleep on your side. It will feel around a medium or a 5 on the firmness scale, meaning it offers a nice balance of support and pressure relief.
What to consider when buying a mattress for heavy sleepers
When you're shopping for the best mattress for heavy people, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
People over the 230 pound range might find that a lot of beds have a softer feel than advertised. Firmer, more supportive options are typically the best beds for heavy sleepers.
Firmness
Firmness is one of the most important factors when choosing a mattress, but you should remember that your body type influences how you perceive a bed's firmness. A petite person will put less pressure on the bed, making it feel firmer. A heavier sleeper will put more pressure, making the mattress feel softer.
Firmness is a scale, and a lot of preference is involved in choosing your next bed. However, there are a few general guidelines you should be aware of.
- Side sleepers need a softer mattress with enough pressure relief to ensure they don’t develop pressure points at the shoulders, hips and knees.
- Back and stomach sleepers require a firmer mattress to ensure their spine stays at neutral alignment all night.
- Combination sleepers have the most flexibility in firmness. It’s best to choose your firmness based on the position in which you spend the most time. Or aim for the middle of the firmness scale.
Durability
You want a mattress that will stand the test of time. The reality is that not all types of material will hold up. It's a good idea to look for mattresses with reinforced materials like coils and high-density foam.
For example, Saatva is known for making exceptionally durable mattresses with advanced construction, such as sturdy innerspring and lumbar zones. Saatva mattresses always score highly in durability.
Support
When you're sleeping on a mattress that isn't supportive enough, you'll likely wake up with a sore back or neck. Most heavy sleepers should opt for something that guarantees support, like a hybrid or innerspring mattress.
Big Fig, our best overall mattress for heavy people selection, is a great example of an exceptionally supportive mattress. It received a high score from us since it has 50% more wrapped coils than other beds.
Edge support
Edge support is the strength of the bed's perimeter. An easy way to test a bed's edge support is by sitting on the edge; if you feel like you're going to slip off because the edge gives way to your weight, then the edge support could be better. This matters for people who need access to the whole sleeping surface.
Price and warranty information
Mattresses are a big investment. It's important to us that our lists include all budgets and price points. We also consider warranty information for each mattress so you know exactly what you get when you buy. Most companies offer robust trial periods and free returns, so you never have to worry if you don't love the mattress you select.
How we test mattresses for heavy people
Our CNET sleep team has spent years testing mattresses. All testing happens in our 6,000-square-foot mattress warehouse in Reno, Nevada. In addition to the large rooms where the beds are stored, we have two studio bedrooms where we test and film mattress reviews. Testing a mattress is an extremely hands-on process in which we analyze each bed's construction, feel, firmness and performance.
Our team includes experts of various genders, body types and sleeper positions, which allows us to get a full picture of how a bed performs and who it is best suited for. CNET editors choose the goods and services we write about based on editorial merit. When you make a purchase using our links, we may get a commission. Learn more about how we test mattresses.
Firmness and feel
While testing, we approach mattresses from a consumer perspective, honing in on who will or won't like a particular mattress. We do this with two main criteria: firmness and feel. Firmness describes how hard or soft the mattress is. We have several people test each mattress and rate how firm it is.
The Mattress Smasher 9000 objectively measures the firmness levels of mattresses.
However, firmness is very subjective since body weight and body type play a role. To address this, CNET created a tool to test a mattress's firmness objectively. Our proprietary machine, appropriately named the Mattress Smasher 9000, presses into the middle of a bed and our corresponding software measures firmness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest.
While we also test each bed personally for perceived firmness and feel, we have data from the Mattress Smasher 9000 to back up our conclusions. Here are the objective firmness levels of the best mattresses for heavy people, sorted from softest to firmest.
Feel is the other essential factor to consider when testing a mattress. Some beds will have the traditional sinking memory foam feel, while others will have a neutral foam feel more like a cloud.
Performance
We also test mattresses in key performance categories like edge support, motion isolation and temperature regulation. Edge support is how stable the perimeter of the mattress is. Motion isolation matters if you have a partner who moves around at night and you don't want to be woken up by their movement. Finally, temperature regulation describes how well the mattress disperses body heat. Many mattresses claim to be cooling, although very few actually are.
Other mattresses we've tested
The CNET Sleep editors test out mattresses to write honest mattress reviews and best lists. They've had their hands on hundreds of different beds and have valuable insight into the best and worst mattresses on the market.
Loom & Leaf mattress: Loom & Leaf is a memory foam bed with special cooling tech. It doesn't retain heat like traditional memory foam beds. It has two firmness levels to choose from, both on the firmer end. For a heavy sleeper, a medium or medium-firm mattress would be ideal.
Nectar Premier and Copper mattresses: The Nectar Premier mattress boasts 3 inches of pressure-relieving foam and an all-foam construction. The Nectar Premier is a good pick for stomach, back and combo sleepers, but not the best choice for heavier sleepers. It has no coils, so heavier body types may compress the mattress too much.
Nolah Original 10 mattress: This mattress is plush, airy, and pressure-relieving thanks to its neutral foam feel. It's medium to medium-soft on the firmness scale, making it ideal for side sleepers and some combination sleepers. It's still a good, affordable foam mattress that won't be too expensive.
Best mattress construction for heavy people
If you're a heavier sleeper, you should buy an innerspring or a hybrid mattress. All-foam bases just won't be able to match the support and durability of coils. That's not to say you can't enjoy the feel of memory foam. Many hybrid mattresses have layers of memory foam on top of their coils.
Best mattresses for heavy people FAQs
Do mattresses have a weight limit?
Technically, yes, mattresses have a weight limit. Most mattresses support around 500 pounds (250 pounds on each side) due to the materials used. Certain brands like Casper claim to have no weight limits. Others, like Big Fig, make mattresses with materials that support more weight and advertise that. Big Fig mattresses support 1,100 pounds.
What is the best mattress for a heavy person?
The best mattress for heavy people is anything that is comfortable and gives them the support they need while sleeping. Those mattresses tend to include coils and fall at the firmer end of the scale. We consider Big Fig to be the best overall mattress for heavy people because of its high-quality materials and thick, 3-inch Euro pillow top.
What mattress types are best for heavier/larger sleepers?
Without a doubt, the best kind of mattress for heavy people would be a hybrid that combines pocketed coils or inner springs with some kind of foam, whether it be memory foam, latex foam, poly foam or some kind of blend. Hybrid mattresses offer more support than foam beds because steel coils are more durable and supportive than foam.
What mattress firmness is best for heavier or larger sleepers?
It primarily depends on your favorite sleeping position, but in general, firmer mattresses are better because they offer more support. The heavier you are, the softer mattresses will feel. For example, a bed that feels like a medium to someone who weighs 175 pounds might feel more like a soft mattress to someone who weighs 230 pounds.
Is a memory foam mattress good for a heavy person?
Yes, memory foam mattresses offer contouring pressure relief that can be helpful for any person of any size. Try to find a memory foam hybrid mattress that contains steel coils in the foundation layer to ensure your bed remains durable, supportive and comfortable throughout its lifetime.