High strength steels are widely used as tribo-materials in the field. Previous study revealed that for mild steel, the states of strain on the worn surface measured by X-ray diffraction has a good relationship with the state of wear. The objective of this study is to identify the relationship between the state of strain on the worn surface and the state of wear in high strength steels. Sliding wear tests were carried out using several hardened steels. X-ray diffraction tests were conducted to analyze the state of strain on the worn surface during wear. The experimental results indicated that the state of strain on worn surface in the hardened steel shows the same tendency as in the mild steel. It is clear that change of half value width on the worn surface as a function of sliding speeds is broadly similar in shape to wear characteristics curve and its magnitude has a good relationship with the wear rate at two different wear modes in the hardened steel.