Best Twin XL Mattresses (2024), Expert-Tested

Who Are Twin XL Mattresses Best For?

• College students – A twin XL mattress is a good fit for college students since they are longer to accommodate taller people but are still narrow enough to fit within a smaller dorm room space.
• Growing teenagers – A twin XL bed is great if your teenager has outgrown their twin bed. It’s a perfect transitioning size because it’s longer than a twin yet narrower than a full or queen.
• Couples looking for a split king bed – A split king bed features two mattresses in one, and the twin XL size is great for most bed foundations. 
• Tall single adults – A twin XL bed is narrow but long, so it’s perfect for solo sleepers who are taller. 

Who Should Avoid Twin XL Mattresses?

• Couples – A twin XL mattress would be too narrow for two adults to sleep in.
• Smaller children – Small kids don’t necessarily need as much legroom, so they’re better off with a twin mattress. 
• Restless sleepers – Restless sleepers who toss and turn on a twin XL could find themselves on the floor sooner rather than later. These people typically require more wiggle room that the twin XL doesn’t have.

Other Mattress Shopping Considerations:

Sleeping Position

Every type and size of mattress, including twin XL, comes in various firmness options. We rank mattresses on a scale of 1 through 10, with 10 being the hardest. My fellow mattress testers and I perform hands-on tests to bring you first-hand firmness information. 

Anything below a 5 would be considered soft, whereas firmness ratings between 5 and 6.5 are in the medium range, which most beds fall within. A rating of 7 or higher means a bed skews firmer. How soft or hard you like your mattress is ultimately determined by personal preference, but a mattress’s firmness level can also factor into how well it supports your body weight and preferred sleep position. 

A cooler sleeping environment is key to a restful and restorative night of sleep. Although some materials and types of mattresses are more conducive to temperature regulation, many manufacturers have begun to infuse mattresses with gel and design them with other cooling materials and technologies to ensure a cooler night’s sleep. 

Of the mattress types, memory foam is naturally the warmest because the foam doesn’t allow for airflow. However, many memory foam mattress companies are addressing this by including gel infusions and perforations in the foam. 

Mattresses that are made with coils, such as innerspring and hybrid are excellent choices for staying cool in the bedroom because the coils provide great airflow which helps prevent the mattress from heating up. The open-cell structure of latex also makes these beds a fantastic choice when you want to stay cool throughout the night. 

Although edge support may not seem like an essential mattress feature, when you are dealing with a mattress that is not particularly wide like the twin XL size, it becomes a pertinent characteristic. Considering that there isn’t much surface area for this size mattress, having substantial edge support can be the difference between a secure, restful night’s sleep and one where you feel as if you’re falling out of bed. 

Secure edges can also make it easier to get into and out of the bed. Innerspring and hybrid mattresses typically have great edge support, and many foam mattresses reinforce the edges with higher-density foam along the perimeter.