Sheet metal · U.S. Standard Gauge · USG
23 Gauge U.S. Standard Thickness in Inches and Millimetres
https://shopmath.org/gauges/us-standard/23 · data verified August 1, 2026
23 gauge U.S. Standard sheet is 0.0281 in thick — 0.714 mm. A square foot weighs 1.13 lb (5.49 kg/m²). The gauge number indexes the USG system, so the same number is a different thickness in another material — the comparison is below. Thicknesses are nominal, before mill tolerance.
- Gauge
- 23 ga
- Material
- U.S. Standard Gauge
- Inch
- 0.0281
- mm
- 0.714
- System
- USG
23 Gauge U.S. Standard · nominal thickness
0.0281 in
- Millimetre
- 0.714mm
- Weight
- 1.13lb/ft²
- Weight
- 5.49kg/m²
Nominal thickness on the USG system. Gauge numbers are material-specific — "23 gauge" on its own does not name a thickness.
23 Gauge U.S. Standard Sheet Thickness
23 Gauge U.S. Standard is defined by the 15 U.S.C. 206 (wrought iron basis), not by a measurement — the gauge number is an index into that system, which is why the same number means a different thickness in another material.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Thickness, decimal inch | 0.0281 in |
| Thickness, millimetre | 0.714 mm |
| Weight per square foot | 1.13 lb/ft² |
| Weight per square metre | 5.49 kg/m² |
| Gauge system | USG |
Nominal thickness. Mill tolerance on sheet is typically a few thousandths of an inch either way and varies with width and process; measure the stock when the fit matters.
23 Gauge Thickness in Every Other Sheet Material
Gauge 23 spans 0.0226 in to 0.0306 in depending on the material, because each material is indexed on a different gauge system. Ordering sheet by gauge without naming the material is how the wrong thickness arrives.
| Property | Property | Thickness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material | Gauge system | in | mm |
| Sheet Aluminium | B&S | 0.0226 | 0.573 |
| Galvanized Steel | galvanized-MSG | 0.0306 | 0.778 |
| Sheet Steel | MSG | 0.0269 | 0.683 |
| U.S. Standard Gauge | USG | 0.0281 | 0.714 |
Steel uses the Manufacturers' Standard Gauge, galvanised adds a zinc-coating allowance to the steel thickness, aluminium and other non-ferrous sheet use the Brown & Sharpe geometric series, and U.S. Standard is the 1893 statute on a wrought-iron basis.
Gauges Either Side of 23 Gauge U.S. Standard
A higher gauge number is thinner sheet. The steps are not equal — the gauge systems are geometric, so the difference between two gauges shrinks as the sheet gets thinner.
Sources and Method for 23 Gauge U.S. Standard Thickness
- 23 Gauge U.S. Standard thicknesscomputed
15 U.S.C. 206 (Act of Mar. 3, 1893, ch. 221, 27 Stat. 746) — U.S. Standard Gauge for sheet and plate iron and steel; 15 U.S.C. 206 statutory weights; MSG (41.82 lb/ft2 per inch), galvanized zinc allowance, and Brown & Sharpe formula per docs/research/data-sourcing.md §3.7
Verified against Wikipedia Sheet metal, Standard sheet metal gauges table (CC BY-SA 4.0) — 137/137 checks passed at 0.05 mil
Computed from the standard's formulas, then checked against published tables.
- Formula
Weight per square foot, sheet steel
lb/ft² = thickness (in) × 41.82 0.0281 × 41.82 = 1.13 lb/ft²
41.82 lb/ft² per inch of thickness is the Manufacturers' Standard Gauge basis for steel. The U.S. Standard Gauge of 1893 uses a wrought-iron basis of 40 lb/ft² per inch, which is why the two systems differ.
- Assumptions
- Thicknesses are nominal. Mill tolerance varies with width, process and material and is not part of the gauge definition.
- Gauge is an index into a material-specific system, not a unit. A gauge number without a material is ambiguous by construction.
- Dataset scope: EXCLUDED: stainless steel (genuinely ambiguous convention, only one source in hand), zinc, copper, brass, steel tube wall.
- Data last verified
- August 1, 2026
How to Cite This 23 Gauge U.S. Standard Reference
Citation
ShopMath. "23 Gauge U.S. Standard Thickness in Inches and Millimetres." ShopMath, verified August 1, 2026, https://shopmath.org/gauges/us-standard/23
BibTeX
@misc{shopmath-gauges-us-standard-23,
title = {23 Gauge U.S. Standard Thickness in Inches and Millimetres},
author = {{ShopMath}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://shopmath.org/gauges/us-standard/23}},
note = {Data verified 2026-08-01}
}Permanent URL
https://shopmath.org/gauges/us-standard/23
Common Questions About 23 Gauge U.S. Standard
How thick is 23 gauge U.S. Standard?
- 23 gauge U.S. Standard is 0.0281 in thick, which is 0.714 mm. A square foot weighs 1.13 lb (5.49 kg/m²).
What is 23 gauge U.S. Standard in mm?
- 0.714 mm. The gauge number is an index into the USG system rather than a measurement, so it converts to a fixed thickness rather than a round metric figure.
Is 23 gauge U.S. Standard thicker than 22 gauge?
- No — a lower gauge number is thicker sheet. 22 gauge us standard is 0.0313 in (0.794 mm) against 0.0281 in (0.714 mm) for 23 gauge U.S. Standard, a difference of 0.0032 in.
Why is 23 gauge a different thickness in other materials?
- Because each material is indexed on its own gauge system. At 23 gauge: Aluminium 0.0226 in (B&S), Galvanized 0.0306 in (galvanized-MSG), Steel 0.0269 in (MSG), US Standard 0.0281 in (USG). The number is a position in a series, not a thickness, so 3 other readings of "23 gauge" are all equally correct.
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