How to Measure Your Feet at Home for the Right Shoe Size
The size you've worn for years may no longer be the size of your feet. With paper, a pen and a ruler, you can measure both feet at home in about ten minutes.
You reach for the size you've always worn, lace up a new pair and something is slightly off: a pinch across the ball of the foot, a heel that lifts, toes that feel crowded by late afternoon. It's easy to blame the shoe. The number may be the problem instead, because feet change with the time of day, the years and the weight they carry, and the size on a label doesn't.
The picture gets murkier when only one foot is unhappy. The left shoe feels tight while the right one feels fine, and it's hard to tell whether the shoe, the size or the foot itself is responsible. A measurement of your own is a better place to start than the size on the box.
The short answer
Measure later in the day, standing, in the socks you usually wear. Trace each foot on paper with your heel against a wall, then measure from the heel to the longest toe and across the widest part. Use the larger foot's numbers with the maker's size chart, then check the fit: about half an inch of room in front of your longest toe, a heel that doesn't slip and no pinching across the ball of the foot. If your feet hurt even in shoes that fit, or one foot swells, talk with a healthcare professional.
Why your shoe size can drift
A shoe size is a starting point, not a fixed fact about you, and several ordinary things move it. Standing spreads your feet a little under your full weight, so a foot measured sitting down can come out smaller than the foot you walk on. Feet also swell a little over hours of standing and walking, which is why shoes that fit in the morning can feel tight by evening and why it's worth measuring, and trying shoes on, later in the day.
Your two feet aren't always alike, either. Many people have one foot a little larger than the other, and measuring only one can leave the other cramped. In some people the second toe reaches farther than the big toe, so room in the shoe is measured from whichever toe is longest. Over the years feet can change shape and size too, so an old size may no longer fit, as how feet change with age explains.
How to measure your feet at home
You need two sheets of paper, tape, a pen and a ruler or tape measure, and about ten minutes. A helper makes tracing easier, but you can do it alone. Either way, the aim is the same: a length and a width for each foot, taken while you stand.
Measure late in the day
Wait until the afternoon or evening, when your feet are at their largest. Wear the kind of socks you plan to wear with the shoes.
Tape paper against a wall
Tape a sheet of paper to a hard floor, with one short edge touching the wall, so it cannot slide.
Stand and trace
Stand on the paper with your heel against the wall and your weight on that foot. Have someone trace around it with the pen held upright, or trace it yourself carefully.
Measure the length
Measure from the wall to the tip of your longest toe, which is not always the big toe.
Measure the width
Measure straight across the widest part of the outline, usually across the ball of the foot.
Repeat with the other foot
Trace and measure the other foot the same way. Use the larger length and width when you choose a size.
With both feet measured, use the larger numbers and match them to each maker's own chart, because sizes can vary between makers and even between styles. If you fall between two sizes, choose the one that leaves room at the toe of your larger foot and still holds your heel. Lacing can snug a slightly roomy shoe, but nothing makes a short one longer.
From numbers to a shoe that fits
Width deserves the same attention as length. When a shoe pinches across the ball of the foot, the usual move is to go up a size, but a larger size mostly adds length: your heel may slip, and the shoe may bend in the wrong place. If your foot is wide for its length, a wider fit in your own length is likely to work better than a longer shoe, and many makers show width with letters or words such as "wide."
Your measurements narrow the choice, but your feet make the final call. With the shoes on and your weight on your feet, aim for about half an inch in front of your longest toe, with enough room to wiggle your toes. Your heel should stay put as you walk, and the ball of your foot should sit in the widest part of the shoe. Shoes should feel comfortable from the start, so don't count on a tight pair stretching.
Taking your measurements to the store
Try shoes on later in the day, in the socks you plan to wear and with the insoles you plan to use, since insoles take up room, and walk in them for a few minutes on a hard floor. For what else to check, see what to look for in walking shoes.
If the store has a foot-measuring device, ask to have both feet measured while you stand, and keep your own numbers alongside the result. A reading taken in the morning, or with you sitting down, can come out smaller than the tracing you made late in the day under your full weight. If the two disagree, trust the one taken the way you'll wear the shoes: standing, late in the day, in your usual socks.
Your numbers do even more of the work when you order shoes online, where there's no floor to walk on before you pay. Check them against that maker's chart rather than picking your usual size, and when the pair arrives, give it the same late-day test at home, indoors, before the shoes see a sidewalk. The numbers aren't only for shoes, either: insoles follow your shoe size, so the same measurements help when you choose a pair of them.
When your measurements may mean something more
A small difference between your two feet is common, and many adults find their size creeps up over the years. Feet that are a little larger by evening are ordinary too, as is a size that has shifted since your last pair. None of these is a reason for concern on its own.
Pay closer attention if one foot swells when the other doesn't, or if your feet hurt even in shoes that measure right and feel right. Those are reasons to have your feet checked rather than to keep changing sizes.
Questions people ask
My feet are two different sizes. Which one should I use?
Use the larger one. It's common for one foot to be a little bigger, and extra room in one shoe is easier to live with than a shoe that pinches. That's also why both feet are traced and measured, so that the larger length and width can set the size.
Should I measure my feet with socks on?
Yes, wear the kind of socks you plan to wear with the shoes. Thick work socks and thin dress socks take up different amounts of room, so measuring in one kind and wearing the other can change how the same shoe fits.
How often should I measure my feet?
Measuring each time you choose a new pair of shoes is a good habit. Feet can change shape and size over the years, and sizes vary between makers, so the number that fit your last pair isn't a promise about the next one.
The bottom line
A shoe size is closer to a habit than a fact about your feet, which change over a day and over the years and aren't always a matching pair. Ten minutes with paper and a ruler replaces the habit with a length and a width for each foot, and how the shoe feels on your foot then decides the rest.
