American Wire Gauge (AWG) Table

American Wire Gauge (AWG) Tables

The table lists the American Wire Gauge (AWG) sizes for conductors. In addition to wire size, the table provides values load (current) carrying capacity, resistance and skin effects. The resistances and skin depth noted are for copper conductors. Detailed descriptions of each item are provided below the table.

AWG	Diameter [inches]	Diameter [mm]	Resistance [Ohms / 1000 ft.]	Resistance [Ohms / km]	Max Current [Amperes]	Max Frequency for 100% skin depth
OOOO	0.46	11.684	0.049	0.16072	302	125 Hz
OOO	0.4096	10.40384	0.0618	0.202704	239	160 Hz
OO	0.3648	9.26592	0.0779	0.255512	190	200 Hz
0	0.3249	8.25246	0.0983	0.322424	150	250 Hz
1	0.2893	7.34822	0.1239	0.406392	119	325 Hz
2	0.2576	6.54304	0.1563	0.512664	94	410 Hz
3	0.2294	5.82676	0.197	0.64616	75	500 Hz
4	0.2043	5.18922	0.2485	0.81508	60	650 Hz
5	0.1819	4.62026	0.3133	1.027624	47	810 Hz
6	0.162	4.1148	0.3951	1.295928	37	1100 Hz
7	0.1443	3.66522	0.4982	1.634096	30	1300 Hz
8	0.1285	3.2639	0.6282	2.060496	24	1650 Hz
9	0.1144	2.90576	0.7921	2.598088	19	2050 Hz
10	0.1019	2.58826	0.9989	3.276392	15	2600 Hz
11	0.0907	2.30378	1.26	4.1328	12	3200 Hz
12	0.0808	2.05232	1.588	5.20864	9.3	4150 Hz
13	0.072	1.8288	2.003	6.56984	7.4	5300 Hz
14	0.0641	1.62814	2.525	8.282	5.9	6700 Hz
15	0.0571	1.45034	3.184	10.44352	4.7	8250 Hz
16	0.0508	1.29032	4.016	13.17248	3.7	11 k Hz
17	0.0453	1.15062	5.064	16.60992	2.9	13 k Hz
18	0.0403	1.02362	6.385	20.9428	2.3	17 kHz
19	0.0359	0.91186	8.051	26.40728	1.8	21 kHz
20	0.032	0.8128	10.15	33.292	1.5	27 kHz
21	0.0285	0.7239	12.8	41.984	1.2	33 kHz
22	0.0254	0.64516	16.14	52.9392	0.92	42 kHz
23	0.0226	0.57404	20.36	66.7808	0.729	53 kHz
24	0.0201	0.51054	25.67	84.1976	0.577	68 kHz
25	0.0179	0.45466	32.37	106.1736	0.457	85 kHz
26	0.0159	0.40386	40.81	133.8568	0.361	107 kHz
27	0.0142	0.36068	51.47	168.8216	0.288	130 kHz
28	0.0126	0.32004	64.9	212.872	0.226	170 kHz
29	0.0113	0.28702	81.83	268.4024	0.182	210 kHz
30	0.01	0.254	103.2	338.496	0.142	270 kHz
31	0.0089	0.22606	130.1	426.728	0.113	340 kHz
32	0.008	0.2032	164.1	538.248	0.091	430 kHz
33	0.0071	0.18034	206.9	678.632	0.072	540 kHz
34	0.0063	0.16002	260.9	855.752	0.056	690 kHz
35	0.0056	0.14224	329	1079.12	0.044	870 kHz
36	0.005	0.127	414.8	1360	0.035	1100 kHz
37	0.0045	0.1143	523.1	1715	0.0289	1350 kHz
38	0.004	0.1016	659.6	2163	0.0228	1750 kHz
39	0.0035	0.0889	831.8	2728	0.0175	2250 kHz
40	0.0031	0.07874	1049	3440	0.0137	2900 kHz

AWG Notes: American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a standardized wire gauge system used predominantly in the United States to note the diameter of electrically conducting wire. The general rule of thumb is for every 6 gauge decrease the wire diameter doubles and every 3 gauge decrease doubles the cross sectional area.

Diameter Notes: A mil is a unit of length equal to 0.001 inch (a "milli-inch" or a "thousandth of one inch") ie. 1 mil = 0.001".

Resistance Notes: The resistance noted in the table above is for copper wire conductor. For a given current, you can use the noted resistance and apply Ohms Law to calculate the voltage drop across the conductor.

Current (ampacity) Notes: The current ratings shown in the table are for power transmission and have been determined using the rule of 1 amp per 700 circular mils, which is a very conservative rating. For reference, the National Electrical Code (NEC) notes the following ampacity for copper wire at 30 Celsius:
14 AWG - maximum of 20 Amps in free air, maximum of 15 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable;
12 AWG - maximum of 25 Amps in free air, maximum of 20 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable;
10 AWG - maximum of 40 Amps in free air, maximum of 30 Amps as part of a 3 conductor cable.

Check your local electrical code for the correct current capacity (ampacity) for mains and in wall wiring.

Skin Effect and Skin Depth Notes: Skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to distribute itself within a conductor so that the current density near the surface of the conductor is greater than that at its core. That is, the electric current tends to flow at the "skin" of the conductor. The skin effect causes the effective resistance of the conductor to increase with the frequency of the current. The maximum frequency show is for 100% skin depth (ie. no skin effects).