Femoral hernias are infrequently encountered groin hernias. The purpose of this study was to describe the natural history of femoral hernias by evaluating patient demographics, comorbidities, operative details, 30-day mortality, and risk factors for postoperative complications compared with inguinal hernias and in reducible versus incarcerated hernias. Overall 5360 femoral hernia repairs and 183,173 inguinal hernia repairs were identified using the 2005 to 2015 American College of Surgeon-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program's database. Univariate analysis was used to compare patient characteristics between femoral and inguinal hernias and between reducible and nonreducible femoral hernias. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for 30-day postoperative complications after repair. Femoral hernias accounted for 2.8 per cent of initial groin hernias and 18.9 per cent of all groin hernias in females. A total of 56.5 per cent of initial femoral hernias were nonreducible and these patients were significantly older. Rates of small bowel resection (5.7 vs 0.3%, P < 0.0001), exploratory laparotomy (2.5% vs 0.4%, P < 0.0001), and diagnostic laparoscopy (2.0% vs 0.7%, P < 0.0001) were significantly higher in incarcerated femoral hernias compared with reducible femoral hernias. There were significantly higher rates of unplanned return to the OR, postoperative sepsis, and 30-day mortality in incarcerated femoral hernias versus reducible femoral hernias. Most femoral hernias present incarcerated in older, female patients. Femoral hernias present more commonly incarcerated in patients with significant comorbid diseases and are associated with significantly increased rates of systemic, local, major, and minor complications, return to OR, and mortality. Careful consideration should be given for the evaluation of intestinal viability in the acute setting.