Wire Gauge

Wire gauges are typically denoted using the American Wire Gauge (AWG), also known as Brown and Sharpe Wire Guage.

Telephone/network wires are typically AWG 24 or 26. Household wiring is thicker and is typically AWG 12 or 14.

AWG's formula D(AWG)=0.005·92^{((36-AWG)/39)} means that:

• Every 6 gauge decrease doubles the wire diameter
• Every 3 gauge decrease doubles the wire cross sectional area

For 00, 000, 0000 gauge wires, calculate them with negative values -1, -2, -3.

Gauge Table

The table below is for copper conductors.

There are two current capacities listed below. The chassis wiring capacity is for wiring within an appliance that is in the air. Power transmission capacity is based on the formula in the Handbook for Electronic Tables and Formulas which uses the 700 circular mils per 1 amp and is a conservative rating meant for wiring in a bundle. For short length wires, you may exceed the listed current ratings so long as appropriate power dissipation is kept in mind, as calculated with P=I²R.

The maximum frequency for 100% skin depth denotes the maximum AC frequency the wire can carry with no skin effects. Any higher then the listed value and you should consider the skin effect when calculating the wire's resistance.

AWG #	Diameter (mm)	Area (mm2)	Resistance (Ω/1km) T=20C	Chassis Wiring Max Amps	Power Transmission Max Amps	Max Frequency 100% skin depth
0000 (4/0)	107	11.684	0.16072	380	302	125 Hz
000 (3/0)	85	10.40384	0.202704	328	239	160 Hz
00 (2/0)	67.4	9.26592	0.255512	283	190	200 Hz
0 (1/0)	53.5	8.25246	0.322424	245	150	250 Hz
1	42.4	7.34822	0.406392	211	119	325 Hz
2	33.6	6.54304	0.512664	181	94	410 Hz
3	26.7	5.82676	0.64616	158	75	500 Hz
4	21.2	5.18922	0.81508	135	60	650 Hz
5	16.8	4.62026	1.027624	118	47	810 Hz
6	13.3	4.1148	1.295928	101	37	1100 Hz
7	10.5	3.66522	1.634096	89	30	1300 Hz
8	8.37	3.2639	2.060496	73	24	1650 Hz
9	6.63	2.90576	2.598088	64	19	2050 Hz
10	5.26	2.58826	3.276392	55	15	2600 Hz
11	4.17	2.30378	4.1328	47	12	3200 Hz
12	3.31	2.05232	5.20864	41	9.3	4150 Hz
13	2.62	1.8288	6.56984	35	7.4	5300 Hz
14	2.08	1.62814	8.282	32	5.9	6700 Hz
15	1.65	1.45034	10.44352	28	4.7	8250 Hz
16	1.31	1.29032	13.17248	22	3.7	11 k
17	1.04	1.15062	16.60992	19	2.9	13 k
18	0.823	1.02362	20.9428	16	2.3	17 kHz
19	0.653	0.91186	26.40728	14	1.8	21 kHz
20	0.518	0.8128	33.292	11	1.5	27 kHz
21	0.41	0.7239	41.984	9	1.2	33 kHz
22	0.326	0.64516	52.9392	7	0.92	42 kHz
23	0.258	0.57404	66.7808	4.7	0.729	53 kHz
24	0.205	0.51054	84.1976	3.5	0.577	68 kHz
25	0.162	0.45466	106.1736	2.7	0.457	85 kHz
26	0.129	0.40386	133.8568	2.2	0.361	107 kHz
27	0.102	0.36068	168.8216	1.7	0.288	130 kHz
28	0.081	0.32004	212.872	1.4	0.226	170 kHz
29	0.0642	0.28702	268.4024	1.2	0.182	210 kHz
30	0.0509	0.254	338.496	0.86	0.142	270 kHz
31	0.0404	0.22606	426.728	0.7	0.113	340 kHz
32	0.032	0.2032	538.248	0.53	0.091	430 kHz
33	0.0254	0.18034	678.632	0.43	0.072	540 kHz
34	0.0201	0.16002	855.752	0.33	0.056	690 kHz
35	0.016	0.14224	1079.12	0.27	0.044	870 kHz
36	0.0127	0.127	1360	0.21	0.035	1100 kHz
37	0.01	0.1143	1715	0.17	0.0289	1350 kHz
38	0.00797	0.1016	2163	0.13	0.0228	1750 kHz
39	0.00632	0.0889	2728	0.11	0.0175	2250 kHz
40	0.00501	0.07874	3442	0.09	0.0137	2900 kHz
41		0.07112	4341
42		0.0635	5443
43		0.05588	7031
44		0.0508	8507
45		0.0447	10984
46		0.03988	13802
47		0.03556	17359

Max current ratings

The current ratings below are the chassis ratings listed above, but extended for stranded/multicore wiring.

AWG	Typical Max. Current Load Ratings - Copper (amps)
	Single Core	Multicore
		up to 3 cores	4 - 6 cores	7 - 24 cores	25 - 42 cores	43 and above
24	3.5	2	1.6	1.4	1.2	1.0
22	5.0	3	2.4	2.1	1.8	1.5
20	6.0	5	4.0	3.5	3.0	2.5
18	9.5	7	5.6	4.9	4.2	3.5
16	15	10	8.0	7.0	6.0	5.0
14	24	15	12	10	9.0	7.5
12	34	20	16	14	12	10
10	52	30	24	21	18	15
8	75	40	32	28	24	20
6	95	55	44	38	33	27
4	120	70	56	49	42	35
3	154	80	64	56	48	40
2	170	95	76	66	57	57
1	180	110	88	77	66	55

See Also

• https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html