Wide Feet: How to Measure Width and Find Shoes That Fit

If a shoe the right length pinches across the ball of your foot, the answer is a wider fitting, not a bigger size. Here is how to tell whether your feet are wide, how to measure them, and which of the 35 brands on this site make wide fittings.

Quick answers

How do I know if I have wide feet?

Measure straight across the widest part of your forefoot and compare it with a chart that gives widths by size. On New Balance's chart, the only one here with a width for every size, a men's US 9 is 10.4 cm across in the standard D fitting and 10.7 cm in the wide 2E; a women's US 7 is 8.6 cm in the standard B and 8.9 cm in the wide D. If your foot measures at or above the wide figure for your size, look for a wide fitting.

Should I size up for wide feet?

Usually not. On New Balance's chart, half a size up from a men's US 9 adds 1 mm of width but 5 mm of length, while one fitting wider adds 3 mm of width at the same length. A longer shoe that is still narrow slips at the heel and bends in the wrong place; a wider fitting in your own size is the fix.

Which shoe brands make wide sizes?

Of the 35 brands here, 14 publish wide fittings: Altra, ASICS, Birkenstock, Brooks, Clarks, Converse, Danner, Hoka, Merrell, New Balance, Saucony, Skechers, Sperry and Vans. 13 make them in men's sizes and 14 in women's. Several others make wide versions of a few models only; their brand pages say which.

How to measure foot width

1. Stand on a sheet of paper in the socks you will wear, with your weight on the foot.
2. Mark the widest point on each side of the forefoot, across the ball of the foot just behind the toes.
3. Measure straight across between the two marks, in centimeters: a straight-line width, not a tape wrapped around the foot.
4. Measure both feet and use the wider one. Feet swell during the day, so measure in the afternoon or evening.

No ruler? The printable measuring sheet has a cut-out width ruler. New Balance's standard fittings run from 9.7 to 11.8 cm across in men's sizes and 8.1 to 9.8 cm in women's. A figure far above that is usually a measurement around the foot rather than across it. The measuring guide covers length the same way.

Is my foot wide? New Balance widths by size

Find your size and compare your measurement with the standard and wide fittings. These are New Balance's own forefoot widths in centimeters; other brands' standards are close but not identical. The New Balance page has every half size and its narrow fittings too.

Men's (standard D, wide 2E, 4E)

Women's (standard B, wide D, 2E)

Wide fitting or a size up?

Sizing up is the usual workaround, and it mostly buys length. On New Balance's chart, going from a men's US 9 to a 9.5 adds 1 mm of width and 5 mm of length; going from D to 2E in the same size adds 3 mm of width and no length. The longer shoe still pinches, slips at the heel, and flexes ahead of your toes. Where a brand makes a wide fitting, take your own length in that fitting.

Brands that make wide fittings

14 of the 35 brands here publish fittings wider than their standard: 13 in men's sizes and 14 in women's. Each brand's names for them:

Not every model is made in every fitting. The shoe width chart lists every fitting each brand makes, narrow ones included, and what the letters mean.

Brands that handle width another way

• Blundstone: Half sizes add width, not length: a UK 7.5 is the same length as a UK 7, on a wider cut of the same last.
• Chaco: A strap threads through the footbed, so width is adjustable even though length is not.
• TOMS: One medium width only, so if width is the problem, a different size will not solve it.