5 Best Walking Shoes for Seniors in 2025

5 Best Walking Shoes

Our feet require more attention as we get older, particularly when it comes to walking shoes. While the improper pair might cause discomfort, blisters, or even long-term foot issues, the correct pair can lessen joint pain, enhance balance, and avoid falls.

We compiled a list of the top 5 walking shoes for seniors in 2025 after consulting with orthopaedic specialists and podiatrists to help you make the best choice. These shoes are perfect for daily walks, errands, or vacation since they put an emphasis on cushioning, arch support, stability, and ease of use.

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What to Look for in Senior Walking Shoes

Prior to discussing our top choices, podiatrists advise the following when choosing senior walking shoes:

✅ An abundance of cushioning relieves the tension on the knees, hips, and back.

✅ Arch Support: Assists with high arches or flat feet.

✅ Wide Toe Box: This promotes natural toe splay and prevents bunions.

✅ Non-slip shoes are crucial for avoiding falls.

✅ Flexible & Lightweight: Lessens weariness for lengthy hikes.

✅ Simple to Put On: If tying laces is a challenge, look for styles with adjustable straps or slip-on designs.

Let's now examine the top walking shoes for elderly people in 2025.

How we test walking shoes

To provide you with the most thorough assessments, our team of shoe enthusiasts has thoroughly examined the specifics of several walking shoes. In addition, we paid for each pair of sneakers ourselves!

Without our laboratory tests, our reviews wouldn't be complete. By putting shoes through more than 20 tests, we are able to obtain unique and important information that is not possible with just a few days or even weeks of routine wear testing. Examples include toebox breadth, breathability, and flexibility!

However, we go one step further and cut the shoes in half to gather additional quantitative information like midsole softness and stack heights.

5 Best Walking Shoes for Seniors

1. Allbirds Tree Runners

What makes it the best?

We were won over by Allbirds Tree Runners' maximum-extent utility, which makes them the best walking shoe available. This is unquestionably the most comfortable walking shoe for work, travel, and all other activities. As if that weren't enough of an excuse, Tree Runners additionally distinguish themselves by their ease of wear and sustainability!

When we were in All birds Tree Runners, a day and an eternity didn't seem like a long time. Its deliciously firm midsole is one factor contributing to our painless long walks. Our durometer, which displayed a 29.6 HA hardness—a bit weaker than the average of 31.2 HA—confirmed our intuition.

The breathability of the shoe is another element that helped us get through the day in constant comfort. Even though All birds Tree Runners only received a 3 out of 5 on our breathability test, the very porous upper showed up in our bright light, giving our feet excellent ventilation. This shoe is also incredibly light in proportion. It weighs 8.6 ounces (245 grams), which is 22% less than normal.

Although our caliper showed that the insole was 7.2 mm, 38% more cushioned than usual, we believed that the shoe lacked arch support. Having said that, we do not suggest this pair to those who need more supportive footwear.

2. Hoka Transport

What makes it the best?

In order to find the finest walking shoe for standing all day, we sought out one that was both incredibly soft and stable. The Hoka Transport is just that, based on our time spent in the shoe and the lab where we conducted extensive testing! Its precisely balanced cushioning, which comes in a highly secure package, allows it to perform all of this.

We discovered that it was ideal for standing for entire days. It's not spongy at all, but it feels soft underfoot. This was verified by our lab testing, which showed that when we placed a durometer against the midsole foam, it scored 21.9 HA, which means that it is 23% softer than the typical walking shoe while still offering a strong enough basis for standing on.

The fact that we experienced no wobbling is what really makes this well-balanced cushioning stand out! Given that it is 45% stiffer than the typical walking shoe, it is understandable. When we bent the shoe to a 90-degree angle, our force measurement indicated 30.4N. We also felt more secure in the Hoka Transport because to its semi-gusseted tongue and comparatively firm heel counter.

Those who reside in warm climates are not advised to use Hoka Transport. Our breathability test indicates that this shoe is less breathable than typical. Greetings, perspiring feet!

3. Skechers Arch Fit 2.0

What makes it the best?

After many hours of use and laboratory testing, we discovered the Skechers Arch Fit 2.0, the walking shoe with the best arch support. As the name implies, our feet benefited from the degree of stability and comfort this shoe provides. Despite its stiff components and reasonable $90 price, it surprisingly maintains in-shoe enjoyment.

Our arches fit snugly within the roomy stack of the AF2. Above-average measures are revealed by our caliper, particularly its massive 39.2 mm heel that completely obliterated all trace of the ground. To our surprise, its non-squishy construction keeps the ride steady. According to our durometer, it is 21.6% denser than normal, which stops the foam from deflating unevenly.

With a wide platform of 114.5/90.9 mm in the forefoot and heel, the shoe helps us distribute our weight and maintain our footing. The sturdy midsole improves surefootedness and has flex grooves strategically placed throughout to keep it from being overly rigid. When compared to the average, AF2 is 15.7% more resilient, according to our bend test.

The shoe's longevity is, however, limited by its lack of resilience, particularly in the toebox, heel cushioning, and outsole. Due to their little resistance to our Dremel, we advise using caution when working on these regions.

4. On Cloud 5

What makes it the best?

On Cloud 5's features that inspire wanderlust truly made it stand out as a great trip walking shoe! After testing the shoe for a while, we discovered that it practically feels like we are walking barefoot thanks to its amazing breathability, weightless journeys throughout the day, and natural strides.

Because we could walk in Cloud 5 with little to no effort, our on-foot exploration was just breathtaking. When we bent the shoe in our lab using our digital force gauge, we discovered that it was unquestionably flexible. At 19.8N, it barely withstood bending. We were able to move our feet fluidly even though this was around 10% less flexible than usual.

Cloud 5 took care of preventing or drying off perspiration on our feet, even when we went outside on sunny days. We investigated it by shining a strong light on the top and found that it is widely perforated, particularly around the toe box, which facilitates easy airflow. According to our scale, the Cloud 5 weighed almost nothing, just like air. It weighed 7.94 ounces (225 grams), 12.1% less than the others.

However, since Cloud 5 wasn't the most durable sneaker we tried on, we came to the conclusion that it was better suited for infrequent rather than frequent travel. In fact, we observed wear in the toebox area after some time of use. If you can't avoid going all out on your outings, we advise wearing a more durable sneaker or being gentle with Cloud 5.

5. Hoka Bondi SR

What makes it the best?

When we tried for the best walking shoe that doesn't slip, we were completely smitten with the Hoka Bondi SR. It eliminates the possibility of slips and accidents by producing a remarkable degree of friction against glassy surfaces on the bottom surface. We never want to wear anything except Bondi inside since it's so inviting!

We made contact with the outsole and our durometer to find out more about Bondi's non-skid properties. We discovered two things once the device's 73.1 HC hardness was flashed: Because it is just as soft as the normal, the shoe was able to adhere firmly to smooth surfaces like tiles.

When we were out racking up the miles, we also had a place to put our feet in addition to the slide protection. This time, we used our durometer again and pressed it on the midsole, resulting in a 20.4 HA softness, which is 20% softer than normal. We also took a measurement of the tongue's padding, and our caliper recorded an incredible 11.1 mm. We were more than comfortable thanks to the overall padding and cushioning, which was also 177.5% better than usual.

Unfortunately, the smoke we filled the Bondi's interior with did not escape from the higher. We therefore gave its breathability a 1/5 rating, so if you choose to purchase Bondi, be sure to use it with this knowledge in mind. If so, we advise selecting a pair with better air circulation.