Is a women's size 5 shoe big?
A US women's size 5 fits a foot of about 21.2 cm (8.3 in), longer than 1% of women's feet. In EU sizing that is 33, in UK 3.5.
Percentile
1%
of women have smaller feet than a women's 5
US women's 5 = 21.2 cm
US women's 5 by group
Foot length
The same foot in other systems
Percentile is the share of the group with shorter feet than this size fits. “1 in X” counts the rarer side: people at or beyond this value above the median, at or under it below. The size is converted to foot length in cm, then compared with a normal distribution of foot lengths.
What this means
- The average man's foot is 26.5 cm, about a US men's 10.5. The average woman's is 24.0 cm, about a US women's 8.5. A women's 5 is 2.8 cm shorter than the women's mean.
- Measured against men, the same foot is longer than under 1% of them. In US men's sizing it is about 4.
- Shoe sizes are not standardised. The same foot gets different numbers from different brands, usually by half a size, sometimes a whole one.
Questions
- Is a women's size 5 big?
- A US women's 5 fits a foot of about 21.2 cm, which is longer than 1% of women's feet. That is a small foot for an adult; the size range starts near here.
- What is a US women's 5 in EU and UK sizes?
- A US women's 5 is about EU 33 and UK 3.5, for a foot of 21.2 cm (8.3 in). In US men's sizing the same foot is about 4. Brands round differently, so try before you trust.
- How rare is a size 5 foot?
- About 1 in 108 women have feet this short or shorter. Among men it is under 1 in 10,000.
Source: Foot length distributions: Jurca et al., Footwear Science 2019; Wunderlich and Cavanagh, Med Sci Sports Exerc 2001. Sizes converted with the same formula as our shoe size test. Percentiles on this page are our estimate from a normal distribution with the stated mean and SD.
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