How many steps in a mile?
A mile is 5,280 feet, so the number of steps in a mile is 5,280 divided by your step length in feet. A 2.64 ft step makes it 2,000 steps, a 2.5 ft step makes it 2,112 and a 2.2 ft step makes it 2,400.
Step length depends on your height and on how fast you move. The charts below use equations from a 2008 study in ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal that counted the steps people took over a mile at set paces. By those equations a 5 ft 4 in woman takes 2,315 steps to walk a mile at 3 mph and a 5 ft 10 in man takes 2,197. Across the heights and the two walking speeds in the chart, a mile is 1,795 to 2,371 steps.
| Height | Women 3 mph | Women 4 mph | Men 3 mph | Men 4 mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 0 in152 cm | 2,371 | 2,054 | 2,338 | 2,021 |
| 5 ft 2 in157 cm | 2,343 | 2,026 | 2,310 | 1,993 |
| 5 ft 4 in163 cm | 2,315 | 1,998 | 2,282 | 1,965 |
| 5 ft 6 in168 cm | 2,286 | 1,969 | 2,253 | 1,936 |
| 5 ft 8 in173 cm | 2,258 | 1,941 | 2,225 | 1,908 |
| 5 ft 10 in178 cm | 2,230 | 1,913 | 2,197 | 1,880 |
| 6 ft 0 in183 cm | 2,202 | 1,885 | 2,169 | 1,852 |
| 6 ft 2 in188 cm | 2,174 | 1,857 | 2,141 | 1,824 |
| 6 ft 4 in193 cm | 2,145 | 1,828 | 2,112 | 1,795 |
| Height | 5 mph 12:00 | 6 mph 10:00 | 7.5 mph 8:00 | 10 mph 6:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 0 in152 cm | 1,997 | 1,710 | 1,423 | 1,136 |
| 5 ft 2 in157 cm | 1,970 | 1,683 | 1,396 | 1,109 |
| 5 ft 4 in163 cm | 1,943 | 1,656 | 1,369 | 1,082 |
| 5 ft 6 in168 cm | 1,916 | 1,629 | 1,342 | 1,055 |
| 5 ft 8 in173 cm | 1,889 | 1,602 | 1,315 | 1,028 |
| 5 ft 10 in178 cm | 1,862 | 1,575 | 1,288 | 1,001 |
| 6 ft 0 in183 cm | 1,835 | 1,548 | 1,261 | 974 |
| 6 ft 2 in188 cm | 1,808 | 1,521 | 1,234 | 947 |
| 6 ft 4 in193 cm | 1,781 | 1,494 | 1,207 | 920 |
3 mph is a 20:00 mile and 4 mph is a 15:00 mile: the two walking paces the study timed. The running paces are the four it timed, shown as minutes per mile under each speed. These are estimates from the study’s equations, and people of the same height differ. Measure your own step length for a closer figure.
Steps to miles chart
Miles covered by a number of steps, for step lengths from 2.0 to 3.0 ft (24 to 36 inches). By the equations above, steps at a 3 mph walk are 2.23 to 2.50 ft long across the heights in the chart, and at 4 mph they are 2.57 to 2.94 ft.
| Steps | 2.0 ft 24 in | 2.25 ft 27 in | 2.5 ft 30 in | 2.75 ft 33 in | 3.0 ft 36 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 0.38 | 0.43 | 0.47 | 0.52 | 0.57 |
| 2,000 | 0.76 | 0.85 | 0.95 | 1.04 | 1.14 |
| 3,000 | 1.14 | 1.28 | 1.42 | 1.56 | 1.70 |
| 4,000 | 1.52 | 1.70 | 1.89 | 2.08 | 2.27 |
| 5,000 | 1.89 | 2.13 | 2.37 | 2.60 | 2.84 |
| 6,000 | 2.27 | 2.56 | 2.84 | 3.13 | 3.41 |
| 7,000 | 2.65 | 2.98 | 3.31 | 3.65 | 3.98 |
| 7,500 | 2.84 | 3.20 | 3.55 | 3.91 | 4.26 |
| 8,000 | 3.03 | 3.41 | 3.79 | 4.17 | 4.55 |
| 9,000 | 3.41 | 3.84 | 4.26 | 4.69 | 5.11 |
| 10,000 | 3.79 | 4.26 | 4.73 | 5.21 | 5.68 |
| 12,000 | 4.55 | 5.11 | 5.68 | 6.25 | 6.82 |
| 15,000 | 5.68 | 6.39 | 7.10 | 7.81 | 8.52 |
| 20,000 | 7.58 | 8.52 | 9.47 | 10.42 | 11.36 |
| 25,000 | 9.47 | 10.65 | 11.84 | 13.02 | 14.20 |
| 30,000 | 11.36 | 12.78 | 14.20 | 15.63 | 17.05 |
Miles are rounded to two decimals. The calculator at the top of the page takes any number of steps and any step length.
Steps to km chart
The same conversion in kilometers, for step lengths from 65 to 90 cm. A 3 mph walk is 4.8 km/h.
| Steps | 65 cm | 70 cm | 75 cm | 80 cm | 90 cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 0.65 | 0.70 | 0.75 | 0.80 | 0.90 |
| 2,000 | 1.30 | 1.40 | 1.50 | 1.60 | 1.80 |
| 3,000 | 1.95 | 2.10 | 2.25 | 2.40 | 2.70 |
| 4,000 | 2.60 | 2.80 | 3.00 | 3.20 | 3.60 |
| 5,000 | 3.25 | 3.50 | 3.75 | 4.00 | 4.50 |
| 6,000 | 3.90 | 4.20 | 4.50 | 4.80 | 5.40 |
| 7,000 | 4.55 | 4.90 | 5.25 | 5.60 | 6.30 |
| 7,500 | 4.88 | 5.25 | 5.63 | 6.00 | 6.75 |
| 8,000 | 5.20 | 5.60 | 6.00 | 6.40 | 7.20 |
| 9,000 | 5.85 | 6.30 | 6.75 | 7.20 | 8.10 |
| 10,000 | 6.50 | 7.00 | 7.50 | 8.00 | 9.00 |
| 12,000 | 7.80 | 8.40 | 9.00 | 9.60 | 10.80 |
| 15,000 | 9.75 | 10.50 | 11.25 | 12.00 | 13.50 |
| 20,000 | 13.00 | 14.00 | 15.00 | 16.00 | 18.00 |
| 25,000 | 16.25 | 17.50 | 18.75 | 20.00 | 22.50 |
| 30,000 | 19.50 | 21.00 | 22.50 | 24.00 | 27.00 |
How it works
Distance is the number of steps multiplied by the length of one step. Everything else on this page is a way of finding that step length.
The calculator gives you three ways:
- By height. An estimate from your height and your pace, using equations published by Hoeger and colleagues in 2008. It needs a pace because steps get longer as you speed up.
- I know it. Type your step length in inches or centimeters.
- Measure it. Walk a distance you know, count the steps, and the calculator divides one by the other. This is your own step at your own pace, so it beats any estimate from height.
On this page a step is one footfall: the distance from where one foot lands to where the other foot lands next. That is what a phone, a watch or a pedometer counts. If you measured from one foot to the same foot again, you measured two steps, so halve it.
Once the step length is known, the rest is unit conversion. One mile is 5,280 feet and 1.609344 km, both exact by definition.
The formula
distance = steps × step length
steps = distance ÷ step length
1 mile = 5,280 ft = 1.609344 km
steps per mile
= 5,280 ÷ step length in ft
step length in ft
= 5,280 ÷ steps per mile
Estimate from height (Hoeger 2008)
p = pace, minutes per mile
h = height, inches
steps per mile
walking, women
= 1,949 + 63.4 × p − 14.1 × h
walking, men
= 1,916 + 63.4 × p − 14.1 × h
running, women and men
= 1,084 + 143.6 × p − 13.5 × hWorked example
A woman who is 5 ft 4 in tall walks 10,000 steps at 3 mph.
- Pace: 60 ÷ 3 = 20 minutes per mile.
- Height: 5 × 12 + 4 = 64 inches.
- Steps per mile: 1,949 + 63.4 × 20 − 14.1 × 64 = 1,949 + 1,268 − 902.4 = 2,314.6.
- Step length: 5,280 ÷ 2,314.6 = 2.28 ft, which is 27.4 inches.
- Distance: 10,000 ÷ 2,314.6 = 4.32 miles, or 6.95 km.
The paper works one example itself: a man who is 5 ft 10 in tall walking a mile in 16:30. That is 1,916 + 63.4 × 16.5 − 14.1 × 70 = 1,975 steps.
How to measure your step length
- Pick a distance you know: 100 feet along a tape measure, 50 meters, or one lap in the inside lane of a 400 meter track.
- Start a few paces before the start line so that you cross it at your usual walking speed.
- Count every step from the start line to the finish line.
- Divide the distance by the steps. 100 ft in 40 steps is 2.5 ft a step, which is 30 inches.
Choose Measure it in the calculator and it does the division for you. A longer distance gives a steadier answer, because one miscounted step matters less.
Measure at the pace you want to convert. Your step at an easy stroll is shorter than your step at a brisk walk, and a running step is different again: in the 2008 study the same people took 2,252 steps to walk a mile at 3 mph and 1,935 at 4 mph.
Where the height estimate comes from
The equations are from Hoeger, Bond, Ransdell, Shimon and Merugu, published in ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal in 2008. They had 44 people walk a mile on a treadmill at 20:00 per mile and again at 15:00 per mile, and 34 people run a mile at 12:00, 10:00, 8:00 and 6:00 per mile. Everyone wore a pedometer, and the step count was read at the end of each mile.
What they found:
- A 20:00 mile took 2,252 steps on average and a 15:00 mile took 1,935. The walking equations add 63.4 steps for each minute per mile, which is the gap between those two averages spread over the 5 minutes between the paces.
- Jogging a 12:00 mile took 1,951 steps on average, more than walking a 15:00 mile. More steps over the same mile means the steps of the slow jog were shorter.
- The averages ran from 1,064 steps for men running a 6:00 mile to 2,310 steps for women walking a 20:00 mile.
- Women and men got separate walking equations. One equation fit both for running.
- Leg length predicted the step count no better than height, so the equations use height.
What that means for the estimate:
- The authors say the equations are specific to people of normal weight, and that accuracy may vary with a different model of pedometer.
- Walking was timed at two paces only. Between them the equation is a straight line, and slower than 3 mph or faster than 4 mph it is stretched past its data. The calculator marks those results as rough.
- All of it was on a treadmill, so it says nothing about hills, trails or stairs.
- It describes the group, not you. Two people of the same height can take different steps, which is why the calculator also takes a step length you measured.
Steps in a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon
Steps to cover the common race distances, by the same equations, for a 5 ft 4 in woman and a 5 ft 10 in man: walking at 3 mph and running at 6 mph (10:00 per mile). For your own height and pace, set the calculator to convert from Distance and pick one.
| Distance | Woman 5 ft 4 in | Man 5 ft 10 in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mile | 2,315 | 2,197 |
| 5K | 7,191 | 6,826 |
| 10K | 14,382 | 13,652 |
| Half marathon | 30,343 | 28,801 |
| Marathon | 60,686 | 57,603 |
| Distance | 5 ft 4 in | 5 ft 10 in |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mile | 1,656 | 1,575 |
| 5K | 5,145 | 4,893 |
| 10K | 10,290 | 9,787 |
| Half marathon | 21,709 | 20,647 |
| Marathon | 43,418 | 41,295 |
Questions
How many steps are in a mile?
5,280 divided by your step length in feet. By the height equations on this page, a 5 ft 4 in woman takes 2,315 steps to walk a mile at 3 mph and a 5 ft 10 in man takes 2,197. At 4 mph their steps are longer, so the same mile takes 1,998 and 1,880.
In the study behind those equations, a mile walked in 20:00 took 2,252 steps on average. The steps per mile chart has other heights and running paces.
How many miles is 10,000 steps?
4.32 miles (6.95 km) for a 5 ft 4 in woman and 4.55 miles (7.33 km) for a 5 ft 10 in man, both walking at 3 mph, by the height equations on this page. With a step of exactly 2.5 ft it is 4.73 miles, and at 2,000 steps to the mile it is 5 miles.
See the 10,000 row of the steps to miles chart for other step lengths.
How many miles is 5,000, 7,500, 15,000 or 20,000 steps?
For a 5 ft 4 in woman walking at 3 mph: 5,000 steps is 2.16 miles, 7,500 steps is 3.24 miles, 15,000 steps is 6.48 miles and 20,000 steps is 8.64 miles.
For a 5 ft 10 in man at the same speed: 5,000 steps is 2.28 miles, 7,500 steps is 3.41 miles, 15,000 steps is 6.83 miles and 20,000 steps is 9.10 miles.
The steps to miles chart covers other step lengths, and the km chart gives the same in kilometers.
How do I measure my step length?
Walk a distance you know at your usual pace, count every step, and divide the distance by the steps. 100 ft in 40 steps is 2.5 ft, or 30 inches, a step. Choose Measure it in the calculator to have it do the division, or read the steps above.
Does walking faster change the number of steps in a mile?
Yes. You take longer steps as you speed up, so a faster mile takes fewer of them. In the 2008 study a mile took 2,252 steps on average at 3 mph and 1,935 at 4 mph. Running is not simply fewer again: jogging a 12:00 mile took 1,951 steps, a few more than the brisk walk.
Is 10,000 steps a day based on research?
The authors of a 2019 study in JAMA Internal Medicine wrote that the figure is commonly believed to be necessary for health but “has limited scientific basis”. They followed 16,741 women in the United States, 72 years old on average, for a little over four years. The group taking about 4,400 steps a day had lower death rates than the group taking about 2,700, and the rates kept falling with more steps up to about 7,500 a day, where they leveled off.
That is one study of older women, and it shows a link, not a cause. This page converts steps to distance and gives no health advice.
Why does my phone or watch show a different distance?
A phone or watch works out distance in its own way, from GPS or from a step length of its own, so it will rarely match a hand calculation exactly. To see how far apart the two are, walk a distance you know and compare. To follow your walking over time, stay with one source.
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Sources
- Hoeger WWK, Bond L, Ransdell L, Shimon JM, Merugu S. One-mile step count at walking and running speeds. ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal. 2008;12(1):14-19.
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Howdy Health. How to count steps without a pedometer, watch, or phone. Prints the three equations from Hoeger and others and the study’s average for a walked mile.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI), Special Publication 811, Appendix B.9: 1 foot = 0.3048 m, 1 inch = 2.54 cm and 1 mile = 1,609.344 m exactly, which makes a mile 5,280 feet.
- Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, Bassett DR, Matthews CE, Buring JE. Association of step volume and intensity with all-cause mortality in older women. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2019;179(8):1105-1112.