This is the first mattress I’ll be buying on my own, and I don’t know how to find a quality mattress. I am a male, 6 foot and 230 pounds. I am a side sleeper with no pain issues and I am 28 years old. I want a queen sized bed for less than $2000. Any direction or help would be appreciated.
Hi Jasamsrb.
Welcome to our Mattress Forum. 
You’re in the right place!
Thanks for sharing your sleeping profile with us. I think a good place for all new consumer to start is with the Mattress Durability Guidelines and the useful tips in our Mattress Shopping Tutorial.
We also have a great directory of Trusted Members, several of whom have great options in your price range.
As a side sleeper, there are deeper gaps to “fill in” to spread your weight out on the mattress when you are sleeping on your side so side sleepers need a deeper cradle to relieve pressure so the gaps are filled in and help spread the weight over the mattress. In other words, you need to “sink IN” to the comfort layers more. This means that the comfort layers generally need to be a little softer and/or thicker than the other 2 positions. In general a good starting point for a good comfort layer for a side sleeper is 3" and then depending on weight, body shape, preferences, and the firmness of the support layers, to go up or down from there. Most side sleepers will fall in the range of from 2" -4". Without an appropriate comfort layer, a side sleeper will end up with pressure points during the course of the night and could have symptoms of numbness, soreness, localized redness, or end up tossing and turning all night as your body tries to relieve the pressure.
I hope this helps you get started!
NikkiTMU