Men's Shoe Size Calculator
Men's sizing from a foot measurement in centimetres.
Calculate men's shoe size in US, UK, European and Japanese scales from a foot length, with the width letter and the Mondopoint figure.
Heel against a wall, mark the longest toe, measure in the evening. Use the larger foot.
Optional. Enter it to get a width letter as well as a length.
US size
9.0
UK 8.5 · EU 43.0 · 27.0 cm
Shoe scales measure the last rather than the foot, and makers cut lasts differently, so treat any conversion as a starting point. Brands vary by up to a full size; where a maker publishes its own chart in centimetres, that chart wins.
How the Men's Shoe Size Calculator works
Men's sizing is the barleycorn scale in its original form: a third of an inch per size, counted from a last of twenty-five barleycorns. What that means in practice is that one size is only 8.5 mm of length, which is less than the difference between most people's two feet, and why measuring both matters more than picking the size you have always worn.
Also known as: men's foot size calculator · men's shoe size chart
How the number is derived
Men's sizing is the barleycorn scale in its original form. A barleycorn is a third of an inch, 8.47 mm, and one shoe size is exactly one barleycorn of last length. UK adult size zero is a last of 25 barleycorns; the US scale counts from half a size below that, which is the entire reason the two differ.
Because the scale measures the last and you measure your foot, a wearing allowance has to be added first. Around 15 mm reproduces the published tables at the usual anchors, though it is a convention rather than a standard and makers apply it differently.
That 8.47 mm step is the thing worth noticing. It is smaller than the difference between most people's left and right feet, which means the difference between two adjacent sizes is genuinely marginal and the difference between two brands at the same nominal size often is not.
A worked example
A 270 mm foot plus the 15 mm allowance gives a 285 mm last. Dividing by 8.47 gives 33.6 barleycorns. Subtracting the UK adult zero of 25 leaves UK 8.6, which is sold as an 8.5, and adding the half-size offset gives a US 9.1, sold as a 9.
Both of those rounded down by a fraction, which is normal — the scale is coarser than the measurement. It is also why the same foot legitimately fits an 8.5 in one brand's last and a 9 in another's.
Where the answer misleads
Length is only half of fit and usually the less important half. A shoe that is the right length but too narrow will hurt across the ball and crease diagonally across the toe box; a shoe half a size long but correctly wide is usually comfortable. If a size that should fit does not, measure the girth before changing the length.
Athletic and dress shoes are not sized alike even within one brand. Running shoes are commonly taken half a size up because feet swell over distance and the toes need clearance on the downhill. That is a fitting convention rather than a difference in the scale.
Feet also change through adult life, mostly in width but sometimes in length as arches settle. Someone buying the size they wore at twenty-five may be a half size out at fifty and blaming the brand.
Frequently asked questions
What size shoe am I in men's?
Measure your foot in millimetres from heel to longest toe, then add the wearing allowance the scale assumes. A 270 mm foot is roughly a US 9, a UK 8.5 and a European 43. Enter your measurement above for the full set.
How much bigger is a men's size than a women's?
For the same foot, men's US runs about 1.5 sizes below women's US. A woman who wears a US 9.5 is close to a men's US 8. The lasts are shaped differently, so the length converts but the fit may not.
Should I size up for running shoes?
Usually half a size, sometimes a full one. Feet swell over a run and toes need room at the front, so the length that fits standing is tight at mile ten. This is a fitting convention rather than a sizing one.
What is a D width?
The men's standard. Widths run from AAA at the narrowest through D to EEEE, and each letter is roughly three sixteenths of an inch of girth at the ball of the foot. Most shoes sold without a stated width are D.
Related calculators
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US, UK, EU, Japan and centimetres, from one measurement.
OpenShoe Width Calculator
Width letter from the girth around the ball of the foot.
OpenWomen's Shoe Size Calculator
Women's sizing from a foot measurement in centimetres.
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