Women’s Pants Size Conversion Chart

That’s why our readers have been asking us to create a women’s pants size conversion chart. This way, you can determine which pant size fits your waist best.

We’ve been measuring hundreds of pairs of jeans over the past year, so we thought it would be easy. Creating a pant size conversion chart has proven to be difficult.

Some of the surprising things we discovered while making the size chart were：

• Converting between your waist measurement and women’s pant sizes is hard because women’s waistbands don’t always change by the same amount between sizes.

• Our conversion chart is only a best guess because the waistband on pants in the same size from two different brands can vary by up to four inches.

• The true waist measurement on a pair of pants varies a ton because there are too many women’s body shapes — such as apple shaped, pear shaped, and hourglass shaped. That’s why it’s impossible to standardize women’s pants sizes.

There isn’t a standard way of labelling women’s pants sizes. In the US, there are three main sizing systems:

1. US Waist Size. Women’s US waist sizes look like men’s waist sizes. The size is a larger number like 27, 28, 29, or 30. US waist size numbers increase by one between sizes.

2. Misses Size. Misses sizes typically range from 000 to 24. Unlike women’s US sizes, misses size numbers increase by two between sizes.

3. General Size. Sometimes, pants sizes are labelled by small, medium, or large, like you would normally see on a shirt.

You can find the size of the pants you are wearing by looking at the label on the back of the waistband. Some pants, such as Levi’s 711 or Levi’s 720, are labeled with a US waist size and a Misses size.

The purpose of the pant size is to tell you how big the waistband is on your pants. The larger the size, the larger the waistband size. Each size is designed to best fit someone with a specific natural waist size. Women’s pants sizing is complicated because there is no easy way to tell from the label size which waist size the pants fit best.

In contrast, the waist size of men’s pants is more straightforward. On men’s pants, the waist is the first number on the size label, such as 36 in 36 x 32. Unlike women’s pants, men’s waist sizes tell you exactly which natural waist size (in inches) the pants are designed to fit. For example, a men’s pant with a 36 waist should fit someone with a natural waist size of 36 inches.

On average, there is a way to determine the best waist fit for a pair of women’s pants based on the label size. We have provided a size conversion chart above. The conversion is not as easy as you might think, as women’s pants sizes vary.

It is easy to convert from a US women’s waist size to your average waist measurement for smaller sizes. The US waist size is exactly the natural waist measurement — in inches — that the pants are made for. So a women’s size 27 — a misses size 4 — should best fit someone with a 27” natural waist. This means that the waistband on women’s pants changes by an inch between sizes, for small sizes.

Past some size, women’s pants have a “size break”. Size breaks work by changing the waistband measurement by more than an inch between sizes. Size breaks help brands cover more shoppers in their sizing range without leaving anybody in between sizes.

Size breaks work differently in every brand. However, most brands put a size break in between size 30 and 31. Most of the time, the first size break works by changing the waistband by one and a half inches between sizes instead of an inch. For brands that cover an extended sizing range, they may put in more size breaks. Typically, this happens between size 33 and size 34. Sizes change by 2” between sizes after the second size break.

Size breaks make women’s pants sizes confusing. It might look like your US waist size tells you what natural waist the pants are designed to fit best. Because of size breaks, it doesn’t if you are past a size 30.

Moreover, men’s pants don’t have size breaks. That’s because brands stop producing odd sizes for men’s pants past some size, usually size 36. It’s a different way of achieving the same goal as size breaks in women’s clothing.

There is no standard size 10. That’s because most pants are worn below the natural waist. Because your body gets wider below your natural waist, the waistband needs to be bigger to fit your midsection. However, everyone’s body type is different, so it’s impossible to know exactly how wide the waistband should be.

Each brand targets a different average customer. That’s why a size 10 from one brand may fit a waist as well as a size 12 from another.

Waistband sizes for women’s pants vary more than men’s sizes. We know because we measure them. Here is a bar chart of waistband sizes for men’s and women’s pants in size 30.

Most men’s pants in size 30 are 31 inches or 32 inches around the waistband. For women, waistband sizes range from 30 inches to 33 inches.

Women’s pants sizes are not as standard as men’s because women have more body types. It is easier to predict how a male body will change from waist to hip. More difficult to predict for women because they have a greater range of hip-to-waist ratios.

Women’s pant length measurements are marked with a letter or name. In contrast, men’s pant lengths are marked by the inside seam measurement. The inside seam measurement is the length of the pants from the crotch to the leg opening. Pants that are not labeled are usually “regular” length. Regular length pants are usually 30 inches long.

Just like women’s waist sizes, length measurements vary by brand and style. Bootcut pants are usually longer than their label, while plunging pants or ankle-length pants are usually a few inches shorter.