The Best Women Walking Shoes with Wide Toe Box – Supportive, Lightweight, Flexible, and Deep!

women's-shoes-with-round-toe-boxes

Are you looking for a pair of walking shoes with a wide toe-box to accommodate the shape of your wide feet? Finding a pair of walking shoes that come labeled in wide widths (“W”, “EE”) is easy, but finding a style that also comes with a wide toe-box can be time-consuming, since shoes don’t come labeled as with a “wide toe-box”.

You might be wondering what am I referring to when I mention shoes with a wide toe-box? The toe-box is basically the front part of a shoe that covers and protects the toes. Shoes can have regular, narrow, or wide toe-boxes.

My Experience Fitting Women’s Shoes – Over a Decade of Shoe Fitting Experience

measuring-women's-foot-size

We need to carry top quality shoes that are available in different widths, since that’s the only way we can guarantee to fit every woman.

Many women agree that when looking for shoes with a wide toe box, the issue is that shoes don’t come labeled as with a “wide toe-box”.

The good news is that I know exactly which shoes come with rounder toe-boxes and I will help you find them. I’ll share this useful information with you: The shoe brand New Balance makes the best shoes for women with wide or extra wide feet. Even better, New Balance makes women’s shoes with the roundest toe-boxes on the market. Among this shoe brand, certain styles are wider than others, and I will describe them shortly.

Wide Toe-Boxes Vs Pointy Toe-Box

Now, it is also important to be able to differentiate between the different shoe toe-box types. In addition, toe boxes can be pointy or round depending on the shoe style, but if you have wide feet you will always want to look for shoe styles with the roundest toe-boxes.

A shoe with a round wide toe-box will prevent your toes from overlapping or rubbing against each other. Whereas a shoe with a pointy toe-box, will limit the space for the toes and hence your toes will be tight and, in some cases, even smothered.

As a matter of fact, you can find a shoe in an extra wide width but if it has a pointy toe-box it won’t fit the shape of your extra wide feet. The same applies to finding a shoe in a wide width; if the toe box is not round enough it won’t fit the shape of your foot.

Let me show you the difference between a shoe with a wide toe-box and one with a pointy toe-box:

women's-shoes-with-round-toe-boxes

Do you notice how the New Balance shoe (right image) has a much rounder toe-box than the Asics shoe style (left image)?

Walking shoes with a wide toe-box help prevent your toes from overlapping and rubbing against each other or the side of the shoes. The shoes must also provide extra depth to allow your feet to fit deeply inside the shoes, and prevent your toes from rubbing against the top part of the shoe.

Let me show you the difference between a shoe that provides extra depth and one that doesn’t. These shoes are the same size but as you can see they will fit very differently.

women's-shoes-with-extra-depth

To get all of the benefits that walking provides to your health, you must wear the correct type of shoes, in the correct shoe length and the correct shoe width. Please keep in mind that if you don’t wear the correct type of shoes or the correct shoe size, you won’t get any of the benefits that the shoe has to offer, and you will end up creating all sorts of issues to your feet.

Please note that walking shoes with a wide toe-box are great if you have wide feet and need extra space around your toes.  Believe me, you will feel a notable difference after spending so much time in shoes with smothered toes.

If you happen to be dealing with a foot issue in your toes (blisters, corns, bunions) that requires you to have extra space between the toes, you must always look for shoes with a wide toe-box.

Walking Shoes For Women

In addition to fitting the shape of your feet perfectly, your walking shoes must also provide good arch and ankle support. Shoes with arch support help protect and cushion your feet every time they impact the ground, and the same exact applies to ankle support, since your heel is the one who touches the ground first when you’re walking.

Reasons for Having a Wide Toe-Box in Your Walking Shoes?

While the reason for using shoes with wide toe-box might be obvious for you, some other reasons that you might not be aware of are:

➡️ If you have very wide feet and you need shoes with a rounder toe-box to prevent your toes from rubbing against each other.

➡️ If you have wide feet at the front but have narrow heels.

➡️ If you are dealing with foot issues such as blisters, corns, or bunions.

➡️ If you have medium width feet and need extra space around your toes. In this case is better to find a shoe with wide toe-box rather than choosing a shoe in a wide width.

➡️ If you need an orthotic to be fitted inside the shoes.

These reasons are especially important if you are constantly walking. A comfortable fit is always key when walking.

Always Make Sure that Your Walking Shoes are Wide Enough!

You should also be aware that if you wear shoes with a toe-box that don’t fit properly, it will most likely lead to a myriad of issues. Ranging from minor issues like blisters, ingrown toenails, corns and calluses, crooked toes, and unsightly black toenails; and some other serious issues, like inflamed nerves, pain in the ball of the foot, and even arthritis.

I will show you a selection of the best women walking shoes with wide toe-box, but I first want to show you how to figure out your foot size from home.

Retrieve Your Right Foot Size

From my years of experience, I can tell you that many women don’t know their true foot size and end up getting the wrong shoe size. Although a shoe might fit lengthwise, it might feel tight around the toes (in particular the small toe), and your feet won’t be able to keep their natural movement. The most common reason why the above-mentioned issues appear is from wearing shoes that are too narrow, so let’s keep your feet healthy by wearing shoes that fit.

If you are unsure about what your foot size is, I wrote an article that describes the simplest, yet most effective way to figure out your foot size from home:

How To Measure Your Foot Shoe Size – The Most Simple And Effective Way!

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best women walking shoes with wide toe-box.

I only review shoe styles that I have fitted before, since that is the only way for me to tell how well-made the shoes are, the amount of support that they provide, and how they fit.

The Best Women Walking Shoes with Wide Toe Box – Supportive, Lightweight, Flexible, and Deep!

Now, please take a look at the selection of the best women walking shoes with wide toe box (these shoe styles are all available in different widths such as narrow, medium, wide, and extra wide). Disclosure: Some links in this post may be affiliate links and we may receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) when you click our links and make purchases. 

Note that shoes can run short, long, narrow, or wide, and depending on how they run you will need to adjust the size that you get for yourself.

As a recommendation, you should always wear half a size longer of the size that you measured in the standard foot measuring tool (Brannock Device) to prevent your toes from rubbing against the side or the front of the shoes. However, if you measure a foot size 6 and the shoes fit “short”, then you will need to choose the shoe size 7 to allow enough wiggle room (a whole size longer instead of a half a size longer). On the other hand, if the shoes fit “long” then you will need to pick the same shoe size instead of going half a size longer (since the shoes already fit long).

What Shoe Size Should You Order?

Take a look at the description below the shoes that I recommended to find out what shoe size you should order.

Do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail if you are having a hard time finding a specific shoe to accommodate your wide feet.

Main Features to Consider

Besides coming with a wide toe-box, these shoe styles will provide the following important features to your feet:

1️⃣ Lightweight and Flexible: These features will make it easy for you to move around every time you take a step. When looking for shoes, always make sure you grab the shoe and flex it at the front to check whether it’s flexible enough. The shoe should bend easily; take a look at the image below for clarification:

shoes-with-the-correct-amount-of-flexibility

2️⃣ Arch and ankle support: Shoes with arch support will protect and cushion your feet every time they come in contact with the ground, and the same exact applies to ankle support, since your heel is the one who touches the ground first when you’re walking. The image below shows a shoe with arch support, so always look in that part of the shoe to make sure the shoe provides good arch support. Slide your finger inside the shoe and check if you feel like a bump, that will guarantee you that the shoe provides adequate arch support.

supportive-shoes-for-women

⚠️ To check if the shoe provides good ankle support, always feel the back of the shoe—heel counter and the firmer it feels, the better. The image below shows you where the heel counter of the shoe is located:

shoe-with-firm-heel-counter

Does your child also need a pair of shoes with a wide toe-box? See below an article where I describe the best kids’ shoes with wide toe-box. Just click on the link below:

Kids’ Shoes with Wide Toe Box – The Best Shoes for Kids with Wide or Extra Wide Feet!

Thank you for reading, we hope that you this post informative and helpful. Please feel free to share this post with your community on social media as well as your experiences in the comments section below. Remember, if you have any questions or need any further assistance, you can also contact us via e-mail and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

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8 Comments

  1. My 19 yr old daughter has a thick instep from being a toe walker her whole life on top of width issues. Can you tell me what to look for? No good feet stores are available for consultation and she curently is wearing a mens mesh shoe that is too old. I’d appreciate anything. I’ve searched the net.

  2. I need a walker with a wide toe box and a narrow heel. I also weigh 200 lbs have had knees and back.

  3. I have so called problem feet. Pain in the ball of my feet, high arches, over sensitive nerve ends, hammer toes etc. I am looking for a shoe with a wide toe box, enough depth for my orthotics, shoes don’t make my feet feel overheated and are comfortable for lot of walking on a concrete floor (work). I have been looking at Altra’s. At this moment I only wear Hoka one one. They are cushioned and very comfortable but with my orthotics in them, the seem to slip a bit and the heel is not high enough. Since I am on my feet a lot for work I need good shoes. Any advice?

  4. Just want to thank you for sharing your knowledge with a common problem. I will post your site on all my social media sites.

    By the way, are you an affiliate for New Balance? They do make a good shoe. People who buy NB rarely switch!

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