The aim of the study was to improve the practical implementation of the dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) by converting the areal bone mineral density BMD (BMD areal ) to volumetric BMD using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI) because a failure to control for the femoral neck size can lead to erroneous interpretation of BMD values. We also evaluated the feasibility of MR T2* relaxation time in assessing bone mineral status of the femoral neck. Twenty-eight randomly selected 47- to 64-yr-old healthy men were studied. The men had neither unilateral nor bilateral hip osteoarthritis according to radiographs. Bone width, mineral content (BMC), BMD areal , and apparent volumetric BMD (BMD vol ) of the right femoral neck were measured with DXA. The BMD vol was calculated by approximating the femoral neck to be cylindrical with a circular cross-section (Vol dxa ). Volumetric measurements from MR (Vol mri ) images of the femoral neck were also used to create a BMD measure that was corrected for the femoral neck volume (BMD mri ). T2* measurements were performed with a 1.5-T scanner (Siemens Magnetom 63SP, Erlangen, Germany). A single 10-mm-thick coronal slice was generated on the femur with a repetition time of 60 ms, and nine echo times (4–20 ms) were used to derive T2* values. Vol mri correlated positively (r = 0.828, p < 0.001) with Vol dxa . However, the Vol mri of the femoral neck was 18% lower than the Vol dxa . Similarly, the BMD mri was related to the BMD vol (r = 0.737, p < 0.001). Because of the difference in the volumetric measures, the BMD mri of the femoral neck was 21% higher than the BMD vol (p < 0.001). T2* relaxation time showed a significant negative correlation with BMC, BMD areal , BMD vol , and BMD mri (r = –0.423 to –0.757, p < 0.05–0.001). In conclusion, these results are evidence that DXA-derived volume approximations by the cylinder with circular cross-section geometry may lead to lower DXA-derived BMD vol values, as compared to true MRI-derived volumetric bone mineral density. Thus, the BMD vol may not be an accurate method to calculate the true volumetric BMD in the femoral neck. Our results also suggest that the MRI-derived T2* method may be used to approximate the BMD in the proximal femur.