New Balance Size Chart

New Balance is true to size in length. The interesting question is width, because this is the one major brand that publishes 2A through 6E across nearly every length, which means a shoe that pinches has a real fix that is not going up half a size.

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True to size, and that is the least interesting thing about it

New Balance runs true to size in length, and it is more consistent about that than most brands. If the question is only whether to order your usual number, the answer is yes and you can stop reading. But that is rarely the question people actually have, because the complaint about New Balance is almost never that a shoe was the wrong length. It is that it pinched.

Width is the axis that matters here, and New Balance is the one major brand that treats it as a real product rather than an afterthought. It publishes 2A through 6E across nearly every length of the popular models. That single fact changes the answer to almost every fit problem on this page, and it is why our advice here differs from the advice on our other brand pages.

The formula

order size = your usual size (327 = your usual size + 0.5)
width = 2A / B / D / 2E / 4E, ordered separately, number unchanged
UK = US men's − 0.5  |  EU = US men's + 33

Men's standard width is D, women's standard is B. Conversions match our shoe size converter, so the two pages cannot disagree.

Worked example

Say you wear a US men's 10 and 574s have always felt tight across the ball of your foot. The instinct is to order a 10.5. Do not: your order is a 10 in a 2E. The 10 was never wrong, and a 10.5 in a standard D would be a longer shoe that still pinches, which is exactly the experience that makes people say the 574 runs small. Now take the same feet in a 327 instead: that model is genuinely short, so it is a 10.5, and it comes in fewer widths, so length really is the lever there.

Why half the internet says these run small

Search whether the 574 runs small and you will get both answers with equal confidence. Both camps are describing the same shoe honestly, and the disagreement is not about measurement.

The 574 is cut on the narrow side of standard. A narrow shoe pinches across the widest part of your foot, and a pinching shoe feels short, because your toes are the part you notice. So people reach for the only lever most brands offer and go up half a size. In a standard D that buys them length they did not need while barely touching the width they did, so the shoe still feels wrong, and the natural conclusion is that the model runs small. It does not. It runs narrow, and the fix was on the same product page the whole time.

What the width letters actually mean

From narrowest to widest: 2A, B, D, 2E, 4E, 6E. The trap is that men's standard is D while women's standard is B, so the same letter means different things depending on which scale a listing is using. A women's D is a wide shoe. A men's D is an ordinary one. Check which scale you are looking at before you order, because that mismatch sends more people to the returns desk than the length ever does.

Worth knowing even if your feet are average: this is a brand where a fit problem has a cheap answer later. If a pair pinches after a few weeks, you can reorder the same number in a wider cut rather than starting over on size.

How this compares to our other brand pages

Five brand pages now, and each answers "is it true to size" differently, because the shoes are built differently. Chuck Taylors run a genuine half size large, so there the size down is a correction rather than a preference. Vans are true to size new and looser later, because canvas stretches. Air Jordans are true to size in length and the real variable is width, with the patent-uppered Jordan 11 never giving at all. Yeezy has no single answer, because the 350 and the 700 are barely the same kind of shoe. And HOKA is true to size but narrow, which sounds like this page until you look at what you can do about it.

That last comparison is the useful one. Jordan and HOKA both have width problems and neither brand sells you out of them, so both pages end up recommending half a size up and a slightly long shoe. New Balance is the same problem with a real solution, which is the strongest argument for buying it. If none of this settles your size, start from your foot length instead of from a number you already own.

Frequently asked questions

Do New Balance run true to size?

Yes, in length, and the brand is unusually consistent about it. The 574, the 990 and 993, and the Fresh Foam runners all measure true. The 327 is the exception and runs about half a size short. Where people run into trouble is width rather than length, which is a different problem with a different fix.

Do New Balance 574 run small?

No, they run narrow, and the two get confused constantly. A 574 in a standard width is cut on the slim side, so it pinches across the ball of the foot and feels short. Sizing up in the same width buys length you did not need and barely touches the width you did, which is why people who try it still describe the shoe as tight.

What do the New Balance width letters mean?

They run from narrowest to widest: 2A, B, D, 2E, 4E and 6E. Men's standard is D and women's standard is B, which is the offset that causes most of the confusion, because the same letter means different things on the two scales. A women's D is a wide, while a men's D is simply normal.

Should I size up or order a wide in New Balance?

Order the wide. This is the one major brand where that is a genuine option rather than a compromise, since 2E and 4E are made in nearly every length of the popular models. Sizing up changes the length of the shoe, which is not what is wrong. Ordering the width changes the width, which is.

Do New Balance 990s run big?

Slightly, and they are one of the few models in the line where that is true. If you are between sizes or have a narrow foot, the smaller size is the safer pick on a 990 or 993. That is close to the opposite of the advice for a 574, which is a good reminder that model matters more than brand.

Are New Balance 327 true to size?

No. The 327 is built on a deliberately retro last that is both narrow and short, and half a size up is the usual fix. It also carries fewer width options than the rest of the line, so it is one of the few New Balance models where length genuinely is the only lever you have.

How do New Balance sizes convert to UK and EU?

UK is half a size below US men's and EU is US men's plus 33, so a US men's 10 is a UK 9.5 and an EU 43, about 27.1 cm of foot. Those are the same conversions our shoe size converter uses, so the two pages cannot give you different answers. Width letters do not change with the country.

Is a women's New Balance the same as a men's?

The lasts differ, but the number conversion is the usual retail swap: a women's size is the men's size plus about 1.5, so a women's 8.5 and a men's 7 are the same length. The width letters do not swap the same way. Women's standard is B and men's standard is D, so check which scale a listing is using before you order a width.

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