Wire Gauge Guide

This list is a specification guide for the American wire gauge (AWG), which is also known as the Brown & Sharpe wire gauge. For all available wire and wire accessories, please see our wire offerings.

Key Terms

  • Wire Turns: this is the upper limit on wire wound in the shape of a helix if we exclude wire insulation. You can think of it as "how many loops can be made in this space?"
  • Ampacity: An abbreviation for "ampere capacity", this refers to the maximum current that the wire can carry under specific conditions without exceeding the temperature rating of the material. This is also sometimes referred to as the "current carrying capacity."
  • cmil: this is an abbreviation for a "circular mil", which is a unit of area equal to the area of a circle with a diameter of one "mil", or ~1/1000^{th}~ of an inch. This is a measurement used specifically to refer to the area of a wire with a circular cross section. A "kcmil" in this case would be 1,000 cmils.

Note that the values below for resistance per length and ampacity are for copper wire.

AWGDiameterWire turns, no insulationCross-sectional AreaResistance per Length*Ampacity @ 60°CAmpacity @ 75°CAmpacity @ 90°C
0000 (4/0)0.4600 in.2.17 per in.211.6 kcmil0.04901 Ω/kft195 A230 A260 A
11.68 mm.0.856 per cm.107.2 mm20.1608 Ω/km
000 (3/0)0.4096 in.2.44 per in.167.8 kcmil0.06180 Ω/kft165 A200 A225 A
10.40 mm.0.961 per cm.85.03 mm20.2028 Ω/km
00 (2/0)0.3648 in.2.74 per in.133.1 kcmil0.07793 Ω/kft145 A175 A195 A
9.266 mm.1.08 per cm.67.43 mm20.2557 Ω/km
0 (1/0)0.3249 in.3.08 per in.105.5 kcmil0.09827 Ω/kft125 A150 A170 A
8.251 mm.1.21 per cm.53.48 mm20.3224 Ω/km
10.2893 in.3.46 per in.83.69 kcmil0.1239 Ω/kft110 A130 A145 A
7.348 mm.1.36 per cm.42.41 mm20.4065 Ω/km
20.2576 in.3.88 per in.66.37 kcmil0.1562 Ω/kft95 A115 A130 A
6.544 mm.1.53 per cm.33.63 mm20.5126 Ω/km
30.2294 in.4.36 per in.52.63 kcmil0.1970 Ω/kft85 A100 A115 A
5.827 mm.1.72 per cm.26.67 mm20.6464 Ω/km
40.2043 in.4.89 per in.41.74 kcmil0.2484 Ω/kft70 A85 A95 A
5.189 mm.1.93 per cm.21.15 mm20.8151 Ω/km
50.1819 in.5.50 per in.33.10 kcmil0.3133 Ω/kft---
4.621 mm.2.16 per cm.16.77 mm21.028 Ω/km
60.1620 in.6.17 per in.26.25 kcmil0.3950 Ω/kft55 A65 A75 A
4.115 mm.2.43 per cm.13.30 mm21.296 Ω/km
70.1443 in.6.93 per in.20.82 kcmil0.4981 Ω/kft---
3.665 mm.2.73 per cm.10.55 mm21.634 Ω/km
80.1285 in.7.78 per in.16.51 kcmil0.6281 Ω/kft40 A50 A55 A
3.264 mm.3.06 per cm.8.366 mm22.061 Ω/km
90.1144 in.8.74 per in.13.09 kcmil0.7921 Ω/kft---
2.906 mm.3.44 per cm.6.634 mm22.599 Ω/km
100.1019 in.9.81 per in.10.38 kcmil0.9988 Ω/kft30 A35 A40 A
2.588 mm.3.86 per cm.5.261 mm23.277 Ω/km
110.09074 in.11.0 per in.8.234 kcmil1.259 Ω/kft---
2.305 mm.4.34 per cm.4.172 mm24.132 Ω/km
120.08081 in.12.4 per in.6.530 kcmil1.588 Ω/kft20 A25 A30 A
2.053 mm.4.87 per cm.3.309 mm25.210 Ω/km
130.07196 in.13.9 per in.5.178 kcmil2.003 Ω/kft---
1.828 mm.5.47 per cm.2.624 mm26.570 Ω/km
140.06408 in.15.6 per in.4.107 kcmil2.525 Ω/kft15 A20 A25 A
1.628 mm.6.14 per cm.2.081 mm28.285 Ω/km
150.05707 in.17.5 per in.3.257 kcmil3.184 Ω/kft---
1.450 mm.6.90 per cm.1.650 mm210.45 Ω/km
160.05082 in.19.7 per in.2.583 kcmil4.015 Ω/kft-18 A-
1.291 mm.7.75 per cm.1.309 mm213.17 Ω/km
170.04526 in.22.1 per in.2.048 kcmil5.063 Ω/kft---
1.150 mm.8.70 per cm.1.038 mm216.61 Ω/km
180.04030 in.24.8 per in.1.624 kcmil6.385 Ω/kft10 A14 A16 A
1.024 mm.9.77 per cm.0.8230 mm220.95 Ω/km
190.03589 in.27.9 per in.1.288 kcmil8.051 Ω/kft---
0.9116 mm.11.0 per cm.0.6527 mm226.41 Ω/km
200.03196 in.31.3 per in.1.022 kcmil10.15 Ω/kft5 A11 A-
0.8118 mm.12.3 per cm.0.5176 mm233.31 Ω/km
210.02846 in.35.1 per in.0.8101 kcmil12.80 Ω/kft---
0.7229 mm.13.8 per cm.0.4105 mm242.00 Ω/km
220.02535 in.39.5 per in.0.6424 kcmil16.14 Ω/kft3 A7 A-
0.6438 mm.15.5 per cm.0.3255 mm252.96 Ω/km
230.02257 in.44.3 per in.0.5095 kcmil20.35 Ω/kft---
0.5733 mm.17.4 per cm.0.2582 mm266.78 Ω/km
240.02010 in.49.7 per in.0.4040 kcmil25.67 Ω/kft2.1 A3.5 A-
0.5106 mm.19.6 per cm.0.2047 mm284.21 Ω/km
250.01790 in.55.9 per in.0.3204 kcmil32.37 Ω/kft---
0.4547 mm.22.0 per cm.0.1624 mm2106.2 Ω/km
260.01594 in.62.7 per in.0.2541 kcmil40.81 Ω/kft1.3 A2.2 A-
0.4049 mm.24.7 per cm.0.1288 mm2133.9 Ω/km
270.01420 in.70.4 per in.0.2015 kcmil51.46 Ω/kft---
0.3606 mm.27.7 per cm.0.1021 mm2168.8 Ω/km
280.01264 in.79.1 per in.0.1598 kcmil64.89 Ω/kft0.83 A1.4 A-
0.3211 mm.31.1 per cm.0.08098 mm2212.9 Ω/km
290.01126 in.88.8 per in.0.1267 kcmil81.83 Ω/kft---
0.2859 mm.35.0 per cm.0.06422 mm2268.5 Ω/km
300.01003 in.99.7 per in.0.1005 kcmil103.2 Ω/kft0.52 A0.86 A-
0.2546 mm.39.3 per cm.0.05093 mm2338.5 Ω/km
310.008928 in.112 per in.0.07970 kcmil130.1 Ω/kft---
0.2268 mm.44.1 per cm.0.04039 mm2426.9 Ω/km
320.007950 in.126 per in.0.06321 kcmil164.1 Ω/kft0.32 A0.53 A-
0.2019 mm.49.5 per cm.0.03203 mm2538.3 Ω/km
330.007080 in.141 per in.0.05013 kcmil206.9 Ω/kft---
0.1798 mm.55.6 per cm.0.02540 mm2678.8 Ω/km
340.006305 in.159 per in.0.03975 kcmil260.9 Ω/kft0.18 A0.3 A-
0.1601 mm.62.4 per cm.0.02014 mm2855.9 Ω/km
350.005615 in.178 per in.0.03152 kcmil329.0 Ω/kft---
0.1426 mm.70.1 per cm.0.01597 mm21,079 Ω/km
360.005000 in.200 per in.0.02500 kcmil414.8 Ω/kft---
0.1270 mm.78.7 per cm.0.01267 mm21,361 Ω/km
370.004453 in.225 per in.0.01983 kcmil523.1 Ω/kft---
0.1131 mm.88.4 per cm.0.01005 mm21,716 Ω/km
380.003965 in.252 per in.0.01572 kcmil659.6 Ω/kft---
0.1007 mm.99.3 per cm.0.007967 mm22,164 Ω/km
390.003531 in.283 per in.0.01247 kcmil831.7 Ω/kft---
0.08969 mm.111 per cm.0.006318 mm22,729 Ω/km
400.003145 in.318 per in.0.009888 kcmil1,049 Ω/kft---
0.07987 mm.125 per cm.0.005010 mm23,441 Ω/km

* Figure for solid copper wire at 68°F, (Not in accordance to NEC Codebook 2014 Ch. 9, Table 8) computed based on 100% IACS conductivity of 58.0 MS/m

† Figure for solid copper wire at 20°C insulation material temperature rating, or for single unbundled wires in equipment for 16 AWG and smaller. Based on ambient temperature of 30°C