What Is the Average Shoe Size for Men?
Jennie Bell
Deputy Managing Editor
Whatever your feelings about artificial intelligence, it’s hard to deny it is having a monumental impact on our world — and on our understanding of ourselves, including our feet.
In recent years, fit tech companies such as Volumental and Aetrex have introduced AI-driven imaging machines to brick-and-mortar storefronts. The devices can scan customers’ feet to recommend the best footwear or insole products — and they’ve also accumulated immense amounts of data, which researchers have used to get a clearer picture of what our feet look like.
For instance, we now have firm evidence that the average shoe size for men in the U.S. is a size 10, according to Aetrex’s Foot.com database. Globally, the company estimated that the average is a size 9.5 for men.
Watch on FN
And scanning data tells us even more.
Volumental, which has a database of 60 million scans across 60 countries, found that men in North America and Europe are very similar in terms of the length of their feet. The most common foot length for men on both continents is 270 millimeters, or 10.63 inches (which would fit a U.S. size 9.5 or 10 men’s shoe, depending on the manufacturer).
Men in Asia, meanwhile, have significantly shorter feet. Their most common foot length is 255 millimeters, or 10.04 inches, according to Volumental. That would fit a U.S. size 7.5 men’s shoe.
Ironically, male customers in Asia have significantly wider feet than customers in Europe and the U.S., Volumental found. Men in Europe and the U.S. have very similar mean foot widths.
When it comes to comparing the foot width for men versus women, Volumental discovered that men’s feet tend to be significantly wider than women’s feet, even when the length is the same. So if a shoe is designed to fit the average man’s feet, it will be too wide for the average woman’s feet.
How Our Feet Are Changing
Interestingly, average shoe sizes have changed over the decades.
In 2012, the National Shoe Retailers Association conducted a study among its members, asking footwear stores about which sizes are the most popular. Retailers reported that the most popular size for men was 10.5 — that’s a full size larger than the most popular size 30 years ago (9.5).
Experts have said the reason could be tied to overall health. Americans, for instance, have gotten taller and heavier, so our feet may have grown proportionate to our expanding bodies.
Another less-than-positive development with feet is the prevalence of Hallux Valgus, or, as it’s more commonly known, bunions.
Through its scanning research, Volumental found that bunions are the most common foot deformity in the world — although much less so among men compared with women. In North America, for instance, 13 percent of men have a big toe angle larger than 15 degrees (which is an indication of bunions). That compares with 25 percent of women in the U.S.
The issue is somewhat more pronounced in Asia, where 28 percent of men had a more than 15-degree angle on their big toe. Though that’s still significantly lower than the 57 percent of Asian women with the condition.
The Man With the Largest Feet
While size 9.5 and 10 might be the most common shoe sizes, there are certainly many outliers. According to Guinness World Records, Jeison Orlando Rodríguez Hernández of Venezuela holds the record for the largest feet of a living person. His feet measure 40.55 centimeters (1.33 feet) and 40.47 centimeters (1.32 feet), which puts him at a whopping U.S. size 26. Sultan Kösen, who is the tallest man in the world, standing at 8 foot 3, has feet that are only slightly smaller than Hernández’s.
NBA fans have also been amazed for years by basketball great Shaquille O’Neal and his size 22 shoes. However, during an FN interview in 2021, O’Neal admitted that he is actually a size 20.
“My shoe size is 20, but I like to wear a 22 because when I was young we couldn’t afford proper shoes, so I had to wear my shoes tight,” he said. “[Now] I always get my shoes too big to make sure I have room.”
During his playing days in the 1990s, O’Neal had a sponsorship deal with Reebok, which outfitted him on the court in custom sneakers, including versions of his popular Reebok Shaq Attaq shoes. The company still has a mold of his foot (also called a “shoe last”) on display in the archives in its Boston headquarters.
Most brands and retailers only carry shoe sizes up to 14 or 15, so O’Neal, Hernández — and others with larger shoe sizes — often have to shop specialty big-and-tall stores and websites like Bigshoes.com. Or they work with a cobbler or sneaker customizer. For instance, Georg Wessel, a German custom shoemaker, has helped outfit Hernández with shoes, as well as Kösen and other Guinness World Record holders.
One of the most well-known sneaker customizers is Dominic “The Shoe Surgeon” Ciambrone, who has made bespoke footwear for NBA stars like Kyrie Irving and music hitmakers such as Justin Bieber, among many others.
How to Find Your Shoe Size
To determine the right shoe size for you, there are now multiple new and old-school options.
The latest innovation is 3D foot scans, which offer a quick and easy method to get an accurate assessment of your feet.
For instance, the Albert machines from Aetrex take 20 seconds or less to generate a 3D image of the foot, measuring length, width and girth, as well as the arch height and instep. Using that information, shoppers can get customized recommendations for shoes and orthotic inserts to help address any foot concerns. They can also save their information in the company’s Foot.com site to inform future purchases.
Scanning devices by companies like Aetrex and Volumental are found in thousands of shoe retailers across the globe, especially in smaller shops that pride themselves on customer service, like independent footwear stores and specialty running stores. But chains like DSW and Fleet Feet in the U.S. also feature the scanning machines for adults and kids.
Only like to shop online, though? There’s an option for you, too. Tech companies have introduced mobile apps, which use cell phone cameras to scan feet. However, the companies have admitted that, while effective, these mobile systems are slower and not as accurate as the in-store devices — at least, for now. As the programs amass more images and data, the AI will learn and eventually provide more exact results.
And for those who like a low-tech option, there is always the classic Brannock Device. Patented by Charles Brannock in 1926 and 1927, it has been the standard measuring tool for feet in stores for almost a century. And it remains largely unchanged. The flat metal surface is marked with size measurements and equipped with heel cups for the right and left feet, with adjustable sliders to define width and arch length.
You may also like
