The environment that you are walking, running or working in matters when you are considering what kind of cushioned shoe would be best for your current situation. Not all situations call for running or athletic shoes. Some situations, such as working in an office, going for a casual walk, or taking a trip, would require less cushioning than running and other athletic pursuits.

So be sure to consider where you intend to be wearing the cushioned walking shoes that you need to buy before you make a selection. Some work environments allow only closed-toe dress shoes due to safety concerns while others allow sneakers and athletic shoes and others allow open-toed shoes.

Cushioning in shoes can take many forms. Generally, it’s a type of foam or a type of gel, but these aren’t the only forms cushioning can take. Cushioning can also be found in the outsole material when the material used can absorb shock and disperse it properly so that the force from each footstrike doesn’t painfully jar your feet.

Cushioned Regions

Cushioning can be found in four regions of the shoe: the upper, insole, midsole, and outsole regions of the shoe. While insoles are commonly associated with cushioning and comfort, midsoles as cushioning units are less well-known and outsoles are generally not associated with cushioning.

Flexibility is important in a shoe for a number of reasons. It improves the comfort of your feet by allowing the shoe to move with your foot for a good fit and to reduce painful rubbing of your foot against the shoe. Flexibility also contributes to shock-absorption. Flexible shoe materials disperse and absorb shock to prevent that shock from jarring your ankles, legs, and back. Flexible materials also prevent shock arising from your foot pounding against the shoe. Flexible materials can be synthetic or textile and can be found everywhere in the shoe from the upper to the outsole.

Mesh Uppers – Many of the shoes on this list don’t have mesh uppers, but some do. Mesh uppers have many benefits, but flexibility is one of the most important of them. Meshes act like nets which can be stretched and pulled in different directions to allow movement. Sometimes mesh uppers come with synthetic or leather overlays to provide some upper support, as meshes are so flexible that they don’t offer any support on their own.

Midsole – The midsole of a shoe can sometimes consist of more than one layer or more than one component. Midsole materials are almost always flexible, as they need to be to keep from counteracting the flexibility features of the rest of the shoe. Some, however, are optimized for flexibility, so do some research into the shoe you are considering purchasing to see what kind of flexibility features the midsole contains.

Flex Grooves – An overly firm or a solid piece of rubber or synthetic material used in an outsole isn’t usually especially flexible, which inhibits the material’s natural shock-absorbing and cushioning properties. As such, shoe manufacturers cut grooves and lugs into the bottom of your shoe to promote flexibility and traction.

Support is an important aspect of a shoe that needs to be considered, even though support doesn’t contribute that much to shock-absorption. However, it does contribute to your shoe’s shock-absorbing capability. It just isn’t quite as important as cushioning and flexibility.

How Support Contributes to Shock-Absorption
Everyone needs at least a little support. Without the right amount of support, someone could easily roll an ankle or their foot, which would result in injury. However, support also reduces the shock generated by each footstrike, as it corrects pronation and supination problems and promotes normal foot motion. Support features include foam wedges beneath the arch, heel, midfoot, and full-foot TPU shanks, and supportive overlays. Over and underpronation put more strain and stress on your feet and reduces the natural ability of your feet to absorb injury and pain-inducing shock.

Ultimately, the cost-effectiveness of the shoe, or it’s overall value, depends mainly on cushioning, flexibility, and support, but also relies on their durability, convenience, ease of use, maintenance, and their actual price.

Durability
You want and need a shoe that won’t fall apart right away. A shoe that wears down too quickly cannot protect your feet from injury and cannot properly absorb shock. Every region of the shoe needs to be durable from the upper to the outsole. Fortunately, manufacturers have come up with ways to increase the longevity and durability of their shoes by creating high abrasion compounds and interlocking units in the outsole. They have also come up with special foam and other cushioning compounds that last longer than many early foams used in shoes. Always check the reviews and the technologies used in the shoe you are looking to buy to confirm that the shoe is durable and won’t fall apart in a week or two.

Convenience and Ease of Use
Many of the shoes on this list are slip-on shoes while others are lace-up or hook-and-loop shoes. The slip-on shoes are the most convenient, as you can just slip them on and go, but the lace-up and hook-and-loop shoes also have convenience features, such as pull tabs, velcro straps, and heel loops to make it easier to pull the shoe on and secure them with a proper fit.

Maintenance
A time-consuming maintenance routine is inconvenient and can really devalue any product. We live fast, busy lives and we often barely have time for everyday activities, let alone have the time to treat and re-treat and clean, polish, and dry shoes every time you wear them somewhere. So, look for shoes that are easier to maintain and clean. Shoes that are easier to maintain and clean are also less expensive over time, as they don’t require a lot of materials to maintain them.

Cost
The actual price of a shoe matters, too. The best-cushioned shoes don’t have to cost a lot of money! Most of them can be found for a very reasonable price, so always shop around if it looks like the shoe you have decided on is going to cost you an unreasonable amount. Someone, somewhere, will probably be selling it for less!

Cushioning, flexibility, support, and value are the most important features of a shoe to consider, but there are other details you should think about before you make your final decision about which cushioned shoe you want to purchase for yourself.

Traction
A slick bottom or outsole with thin, narrow grooves is a safety hazard. You need to consider the type of outsole material and the tread and lug patterns before you make a purchase. For traction, the best materials are rubber and synthetic materials. Always avoid crepe and leather outsoles in a cushioned shoe unless you won’t be walking or running around in them much or the environment you are in won’t be slippery at all.

Temperature Management
No one wants stinky feet, but sometimes this is unavoidable. What is avoidable, however, is stinky shoes. Temperature management features can reduce the development of odors while also keeping your feet cool and dry. Odors in shoes develop when microbes and bacteria start to grow. Shoes are oftentimes the best possible home for these microbes and bacteria because the inside of a shoe can be hot, dark, and damp. Temperature management features in shoes often include breathable mesh uppers, moisture-wicking insoles and linings, and ventilating perforations in the upper of the shoe. These features allow airflow and pull moisture away from the foot to keep it dry and cool. If you have cool, dry feet, you’ll have cooler, drier shoes. An additional benefit to temperature management features is a reduction of the occurrence of blisters, as dry feet are less likely to develop blisters.

Your Medical Conditions
Before you invest in a new pair of shoes, you need to consider your own health and medical conditions. Oftentimes, people with specific medical conditions, such as diabetes, need special shoes to help protect their feet. If you have chronic back, hip, or foot pain, then it would be to your benefit to investing in a more supportive shoe. Supportive shoes can also have plenty of cushioning!

Your Pronation and Supination
Knowing whether or not you over or underpronate is essential to choosing a good shoe that will be comfortable for you in any environment. A shoe that has the most cushioning and padding available can still fail to absorb shock and result in pain and discomfort if they do not support your feet and arches properly to correct any pronation and supination problems. To determine whether or not you have a pronation or supination problem, find an old pair of your shoes that are well-worn. Look at the bottom of your shoe.

If there is more wear on the arch side of your shoe, then you likely overpronate. You probably need to invest in shoes that correct overpronation problems. If there is more wear on the outer side of your shoe’s outsole, then you likely underpronate. This means you probably need to invest in shoes that correct underpronation problems. If the wear is spread out evenly across the outsole of your shoe, then you probably have normal pronation, which means shoes which aren’t designed for pronation problems will be fine for you and your needs.
However, there are some cases when these guidelines may not apply. If wearing certain shoes causes you pain and it’s not from the shoe being too tight or narrow or from it not offering enough cushioning, then you could benefit from a visit to a podiatrist or your general physician to assess your gait for pronation and supination problems.

Your Shock-Absorption Needs
Finally, before you make your final decision and invest in your new pair of cushioned shoes, you need to consider your specific shock-absorption needs. These needs will vary from person to person and not everyone will be comfortable in every type of shoe. Your gait and pronation problems are the first thing to consider, as pronation and supination problems can reduce the effectiveness of your foot and shoes to absorb shock. You also need to consider how heavy your average step is. Not everyone walks lightly by default. Some people stomp around naturally. You need more cushioning if you have a heavier step. If your footstrikes are too heavy, though, you might still injure yourself even if you have ample cushioning, so it’s worth considering lightening your step to reduce the force generated by your footstrikes.

Similarly, the speed you will be traveling in will also matter. If you will be walking around or standing around all day, you need a different amount of cushioning than someone who is going to be running long distances, because the force generated by walking or standing is less than the force generated by running. That doesn’t mean that an uncushioned shoe would be comfortable if you were going to be walking or standing, especially if it would be for a long period of time, but you would need less cushioning if you are walking or standing.