A medium apple contains about 95 calories. That’s based on a typical apple weighing around 182 grams (about 6.4 ounces), eaten with the skin on. Size matters more than variety when it comes to calorie differences, so the type of apple you grab matters less than how big it is.
Calories by Apple Size
A small apple, roughly 2.5 inches in diameter (the kind where you’d get about four per pound), has only about 55 calories. A medium apple, the standard reference size used by the USDA, comes in at 95 calories. A large apple can push past 115 calories. Most apples sold individually at grocery stores fall in the medium-to-large range, so 95 calories is a reliable estimate for the average apple you’d eat as a snack.
What’s Inside Those 95 Calories
Almost all of an apple’s calories come from carbohydrates. A medium apple has about 25 grams of total carbs, 19 grams of naturally occurring sugar, and 3 grams of fiber. There’s virtually no fat and only about 1 gram of protein. The sugars in apples are a mix of fructose, glucose, and sucrose, which is why apples taste sweet but don’t spike your blood sugar the way processed sugars do.
Apples have a glycemic index of about 44 and a glycemic load of 7, both considered low. That means the sugar enters your bloodstream gradually rather than all at once. The fiber plays a big role here: it slows digestion and helps moderate the blood sugar response. For context, any food with a glycemic index under 55 is classified as low, and apples comfortably sit in that range.
Do Different Varieties Have Different Calories?
The calorie difference between apple varieties is small enough that it rarely matters in practice. A Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Red Delicious of the same size will all land close to that 95-calorie mark. What does vary is sugar content. Fuji and Gala apples tend to be sweeter, while Granny Smith apples are more tart. But these differences translate to only a few calories one way or the other, not enough to change your snack decision.
Skin On vs. Skin Off
Peeling an apple doesn’t change the calorie count much, but it does strip away a meaningful amount of nutrition. The skin contains a significant portion of the apple’s fiber, and fiber is what makes apples so filling relative to their calorie count. A peeled apple also loses most of its vitamin C. If you’re eating apples for the nutritional benefit, keeping the skin on is worth it.
Why Apples Are Filling for So Few Calories
One of the most useful things about apples is how satisfying they are. A study from Penn State found that people who ate a whole apple before a meal consumed 15% fewer total calories (about 187 fewer calories across the preload and meal combined) than people who ate nothing beforehand. Eating the whole fruit produced more fullness than applesauce or apple juice, even when the calorie content was matched. The combination of fiber, water content, and the simple act of chewing all contribute to that feeling of satisfaction.
This makes apples one of the better snack choices if you’re watching your calorie intake. At 95 calories, a medium apple delivers enough volume and fiber to hold off hunger for a reasonable stretch, something a 95-calorie bag of chips or handful of crackers often can’t do.
Sliced Apples and Portion Sizes
If you’re measuring sliced apples rather than eating a whole one, a half-cup of fresh slices (about 55 grams) runs around 32 calories with 8 grams of carbs and 1 gram of fiber. That’s a useful number to know if you’re adding apple slices to oatmeal, salads, or a kid’s lunchbox and want to estimate the calorie contribution without weighing a whole fruit.
Dried apples are a different story. Removing the water concentrates the sugars and calories into a much smaller volume. A cup of dried apple rings can contain over 200 calories, and because they’re less filling than fresh apples, it’s easy to eat more than you planned. Stick with fresh apples when calories are a concern.