US Shoe Size Chart: Men’s and Women’s US to EU Conversion

A US shoe size chart converts the American number into foot length, EU and UK sizes: men’s US 8 fits a foot of about 10 inches (25.4 cm) and corresponds to EU 40, while women’s US 8 fits about 9.7 inches (24.6 cm) and EU 39. The scale steps by a third of an inch, and women’s sizes run one to one and a half sizes above men’s for the same length. Below are the chart, the reverse conversion from EU and the checks worth making before you order.

What a US shoe size means on the label

US on a box or a product page means the American sizing scale. Two more facts are needed before the number is useful: whether it is the men’s or the women’s scale, and whose chart is being used. Men’s US 8 and women’s US 8 are different lengths, and the same marking from two makers does not promise the same fit.

The American scale is split into men’s, women’s and children’s lines. On a product page look for the words Men’s, Women’s, Kids, Toddler or Youth. Unisex models need a chart as well: the seller should say which scale the main number belongs to.

If a listing shows only “US 7”, ask for a photo of the factory label and the maker’s chart for that model. Shops often attach one generic chart to dozens of products, and it confirms nothing about the pair you chose.

How the US shoe size system works

The American scale grew from the same unit as the British one, the barleycorn, a third of an inch. One whole size adds 8.47 mm to the last, a half size 4.23 mm. The difference from the UK scale is the starting point: the American men’s zero is shifted, so the same last carries a number one higher in the US than in Britain.

The working formulas for adults are simple. Men’s US equals three times the foot length in inches minus 22; counted from the last, it is three times the last length minus 24. Women’s sizes subtract one less: 21 from the foot, 23 from the last.

An example for men’s US 10: the foot is (10 + 22) ÷ 3 = 10⅔ inches, about 27.1 cm, and the last is 11⅓ inches, about 28.8 cm. The gap between them, two barleycorns or about 17 mm, is the room the formula builds in.

The scale took shape at the end of the nineteenth century. According to SATRA, the British footwear research organisation, a detailed sizing system was introduced in New York in 1880 and adopted by American industry about a decade later. Half sizes appeared in the USA in 1887, though most stores only began offering them around the turn of the century.

Even then there was no single scale. Two systems ran side by side, the “common” and the less popular “standard”, close but not identical. That history explains why charts from different makers still disagree by half a size.

US shoe size chart: EU, UK and foot length

The chart is built from foot length with the same formulas as the UK and EU charts on this site. Men’s US is one size above UK, women’s US two sizes above, and the EU number is calculated from foot length and rounded down to the half size.

The women’s column uses the scale where women’s sizes run one above men’s. Many makers use a gap of one and a half: then women’s US 8 matches men’s 6½ rather than 7. If a brand’s chart shows the columns 1.5 apart, read the women’s size from that chart.

All values are approximate. Some makers put men’s US 8 next to EU 41 where the formula gives 40, because each brand chooses its own allowance and rounding. Use the chart for a first estimate and confirm against the model’s own chart with a foot length column.

US to EU shoe size conversion

Many people search the other way round, from a European number they know. These are reference points from the chart above, men’s first, women’s second.

• EU 37: men’s US 5½, women’s US 6½.
• EU 38: men’s US 6½, women’s US 7½.
• EU 39: men’s US 7, women’s US 8.
• EU 40: men’s US 8, women’s US 9.
• EU 42: men’s US 9½, women’s US 10½.
• EU 44: men’s US 11, women’s US 12.
• EU 45: men’s US 12, women’s US 13.

EU 41 falls between men’s US 8½ and 9, and EU 43 between men’s US 10 and 10½. The British and American step does not match the European one, so there is no exact equivalent, and the model’s chart decides.

Before converting a size marked “RU 42”, check which European number is on the factory label. Some shops count the Russian size one below EU, and then a Russian 42 is EU 43, which moves the US size by a whole step.

Men’s vs women’s US sizes: what M and W mean

A letter next to the number usually names the scale. M or Men’s is the men’s line: US M 9 or US 9 M. W or Women’s is the women’s line: US W 8. With no letter, read the chart caption; some brands treat the main number as men’s by default.

Unisex boxes often carry both values, for example “M 8 / W 9½”. That is one length in two scales, and the gap shows directly whether the maker uses a one-size or a one-and-a-half-size offset.

The same M after a number can also mean width: Medium. American widths are marked with letters, and the standard width is usually D for men and B for women. If it is unclear whether a letter is the scale or the width, check the model description.

A woman choosing a men’s model subtracts one or one and a half from her women’s size, depending on the chart. The length will match, but a men’s last is usually wider at the heel and higher over the instep, which only a fitting shows.

US shoe sizes in inches and cm

Questions like “US 11 in inches” or “US 14 in cm” usually mean foot length. For men’s sizes add 22 to the number and divide by 3 to get inches; multiply by 2.54 for centimetres. Men’s US 7 is about 9.7 inches (24.6 cm), US 11 is 11 inches (27.9 cm), and US 14 is 12 inches (30.5 cm).

For women’s sizes add 21 instead. Women’s US 7 is about 9.3 inches (23.7 cm) and US 9 is 10 inches (25.4 cm). With a one-and-a-half-size offset, the foot for the same women’s number is about 4 mm shorter.

A half size such as 7.5 or 10.5 is its own step on the scale: it adds about 4.2 mm of last length and has nothing to do with width. If a pair is tight only across the ball, a half size up adds length and loosens the heel while the toe shape stays the same; a different width or last solves it better.

A CM figure on a box may mean foot length, the inside length of the shoe or a metric size label. Compare your foot with the foot length column, and not with the CM printed on another pair.

Big US sizes: 14, 15, 18 and up

The American scale goes a long way up. By the chart, men’s US 14 fits a foot of about 30.5 cm (12 inches) and matches EU 48, US 15 fits 31.3 cm and EU 49, and US 18 fits about 33.9 cm and EU 53.

Each American size adds 8.47 mm, so for US 22 the formula gives a foot of about 37.3 cm and EU 58. Few factories make such sizes, and their charts diverge more than in the middle of the range.

Width matters most at the top of the scale. Factory lasts for big sizes are often graded up from a middle size by length alone, without regard to the proportions of a large foot. If the length fits but the shoe presses across the ball or over the instep, the next number up rarely helps.

US kids’ and youth shoe sizes

The American children’s scale starts at zero for a last of about 3 11⁄12 inches and runs to 13½. After that the count starts again with youth sizes, 1Y, 2Y and so on, so a kids’ US 12 is far smaller than an adult 12.

The kids’ formula is three times the last length in inches minus 11¾, only a quarter of a size above the UK children’s scale, so after rounding the US and UK numbers are often equal or half a size apart. On the site’s grid a foot of 150 mm is kids’ US 8, a foot of 180 mm is US 11½, and a foot of 220 mm is youth 3Y.

Labels such as Kids, Youth, Toddler, or letters next to the number such as 2Y or 10C mark the children’s line. An adult chart does not apply to them.

How to find your US shoe size by foot length

Measure both feet standing, in the evening, in the socks you will wear with the pair. American charts often give length in inches, so convert your measurement: divide millimetres by 25.4.

A foot of 265 mm is 10.43 inches. By the formula men’s US is 10.43 × 3 − 22 = 9.3, so US 9 or 9½ depending on the maker’s allowance. Women’s is 10.43 × 3 − 21 = 10.3, so US 10 or 10½.

If the chart column is called Foot Length, enter your bare foot measurement without adding anything: the maker has already built in the room. If the column gives insole length, that is a different measurement and needs the maker’s explanation.

When the foot falls between two sizes, measure again first; a few millimetres move the choice by a half size. With a marked difference between the feet, choose by the larger one and check the fit on both.

At the fitting, lace both shoes as you will wear them and walk for a few minutes.

• The toes do not touch the front and are not pressed from above.
• There is no painful pressure at the sides across the ball.
• The heel stays in place without clenching the toes.
• The upper does not press on the instep, and the shoe flexes where the foot bends at the base of the toes.

Bespoke shoes when no US size fits

If the length is right but ready-made shoes press on the instep, slip at the heel or are the wrong width, the problem is the shape of the last. Shoes made to the measurements of each foot remove the number from the question. Sergey Grechushkin’s workshop in Moscow makes men’s and women’s shoes to measure: shoes, ankle boots, chelsea boots, loafers and tall boots, for Russian sizes 33 to 52, which means feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm.

The work starts with a measuring visit near Taganskaya metro, by appointment between 10:00 and 20:00; the consultation is free. The shoemaker takes the length and girths of both feet and builds a last for each foot. When the feet differ in size, the pair is made on two lasts, with no upper limit on the difference. Then come trial shoes, usually one to three fittings. Your usual US size and a comfortable old pair are a useful reference, but the last follows the foot.

Prices start from 100,000 roubles a pair. A first pair, including the lasts, takes about ten weeks; a repeat pair on the same lasts takes from four weeks.