Calories burned walking, by weight and speed
Calories for one mile and for 30 minutes of walking on level ground, by body weight and speed. The numbers are totals: they include what your body would have used at rest in that time. The last column of the first chart leaves the resting part out, and in this equation that figure is the same at every speed.
| Weight | 2.5 mph | 3.0 mph | 3.5 mph | 4.0 mph* | Above resting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 lb45 kg | 56 | 52 | 50 | 48 | 36 |
| 120 lb54 kg | 67 | 63 | 60 | 58 | 44 |
| 140 lb64 kg | 78 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 51 |
| 160 lb73 kg | 89 | 84 | 80 | 77 | 58 |
| 180 lb82 kg | 100 | 94 | 90 | 87 | 66 |
| 200 lb91 kg | 111 | 105 | 100 | 97 | 73 |
| 220 lb100 kg | 122 | 115 | 110 | 106 | 80 |
| 240 lb109 kg | 133 | 126 | 120 | 116 | 88 |
| 260 lb118 kg | 144 | 136 | 130 | 126 | 95 |
| 280 lb127 kg | 156 | 147 | 140 | 136 | 102 |
| 300 lb136 kg | 167 | 157 | 150 | 145 | 109 |
| Weight | 2.5 mph | 3.0 mph | 3.5 mph | 4.0 mph* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 lb45 kg | 69 | 79 | 88 | 97 |
| 120 lb54 kg | 83 | 94 | 105 | 116 |
| 140 lb64 kg | 97 | 110 | 123 | 136 |
| 160 lb73 kg | 111 | 126 | 140 | 155 |
| 180 lb82 kg | 125 | 141 | 158 | 174 |
| 200 lb91 kg | 139 | 157 | 175 | 194 |
| 220 lb100 kg | 153 | 173 | 193 | 213 |
| 240 lb109 kg | 167 | 189 | 210 | 232 |
| 260 lb118 kg | 181 | 204 | 228 | 252 |
| 280 lb127 kg | 194 | 220 | 246 | 271 |
| 300 lb136 kg | 208 | 236 | 263 | 290 |
* ACSM rates the walking equation most accurate from 1.9 to 3.7 mph, so read the 4.0 mph column as rough. Double the 30-minute numbers for an hour.
How it works
This calculator uses the walking equation from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The equation predicts how much oxygen you use each minute, per kilogram of body weight, from your walking speed and the incline. Burning food with one liter of oxygen releases about 5 kilocalories, so oxygen use converts straight into calories.
Describe the walk with any two of speed, time and distance, and the calculator works out the third. Speed can be typed as a pace per mile or per kilometer. If you know the time and the distance, choose Both and it works out the speed.
Two numbers come out:
- Calories burned is the total for the time you spent walking, including what your body would have used at rest.
- Above resting leaves the resting part out, so it is the extra energy the walk itself cost.
Body weight matters because you carry it with every step: the estimate rises in proportion to weight. An incline adds the work of lifting that weight.
ACSM rates the equation most accurate from 1.9 to 3.7 mph (50 to 100 meters per minute). Slower or faster than that, the calculator still answers and marks the result as rough.
The result also shows METs, which compare the walk with rest: oxygen use divided by 3.5, the resting figure in the equation. On level ground the equation gives 2.9 METs at 2.5 mph, 3.3 at 3 mph and 3.7 at 3.5 mph. The CDC counts 3 to 5.9 METs as moderate intensity.
The formula
S = speed, meters per minute
(mph × 26.8224, km/h × 16.667)
G = incline as a fraction
(5% = 0.05)
kg = body weight in kilograms
VO2 = 0.1 × S + 1.8 × S × G + 3.5
in ml of oxygen per kg per minute
calories
= VO2 × kg × minutes × 5 ÷ 1000
above resting
= (VO2 − 3.5) × kg × minutes
× 5 ÷ 1000
METs = VO2 ÷ 3.5Worked example
A person who weighs 155 lb (70.3 kg) walks for 30 minutes at 3 mph on level ground.
- Speed: 3 mph × 26.8224 = 80.5 meters per minute.
- Oxygen use: 0.1 × 80.5 + 3.5 = 11.55 ml per kg per minute. The incline part is zero on level ground.
- Calories: 11.55 × 70.3 × 30 × 5 ÷ 1000 = 122 kcal.
- Above resting: (11.55 − 3.5) × 70.3 × 30 × 5 ÷ 1000 = 85 kcal.
- Distance: 3 mph for 30 minutes is 1.5 miles, so the walk cost 81 kcal a mile.
Up a 5% incline the same walk gains a climbing part: 1.8 × 80.5 × 0.05 = 7.24. Oxygen use becomes 18.79 ml per kg per minute and the total 198 kcal.
Calories per mile of walking
On level ground the equation charges 0.1 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight for every meter, at any walking speed. Above resting, that makes a mile cost 0.80 kcal per kilogram, or 0.365 kcal per pound, whether you walk it at 2.5 mph or at 4 mph. A kilometer costs 0.5 kcal per kilogram. For a 150 lb person that is 55 kcal a mile.
The total for a mile is higher, because it also counts what your body uses at rest for as long as the walk lasts: 1.05 kcal per kilogram per hour in this equation. A slower mile lasts longer, so its total is a little higher. At 150 lb a mile is 83 kcal at 2.5 mph and 73 kcal at 4 mph.
Per hour it is the other way round, because a faster walker covers more ground: 208 kcal an hour at 2.5 mph against 290 at 4 mph, for the same 150 lb.
Walking uphill
An incline adds the work of lifting your body. In the equation each 1% of incline adds 18% of the cost of walking on the level, before the resting part is counted. A walk up a 5% grade costs 1.9 times as much above resting as the same walk on the flat.
| Incline | 120 lb 54 kg | 150 lb 68 kg | 180 lb 82 kg | 210 lb 95 kg | 240 lb 109 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 63 | 79 | 94 | 110 | 126 |
| 1% | 71 | 88 | 106 | 124 | 141 |
| 2% | 79 | 98 | 118 | 138 | 157 |
| 3% | 87 | 108 | 130 | 151 | 173 |
| 4% | 94 | 118 | 142 | 165 | 189 |
| 5% | 102 | 128 | 153 | 179 | 205 |
| 6% | 110 | 138 | 165 | 193 | 220 |
| 8% | 126 | 157 | 189 | 220 | 252 |
| 10% | 142 | 177 | 213 | 248 | 283 |
Totals for one mile at 3 mph, which takes 20:00. The incline has to be 0% or more: the equation is not used here for walking downhill. For a treadmill at a steep setting, including 12-3-30, see the treadmill calorie calculator.
How accurate is it
- The equation describes an average adult, so your own figure can sit above or below the estimate.
- ACSM rates it most accurate from 1.9 to 3.7 mph. Outside that range the calculator still gives a number and marks it as rough.
- On level ground it can come out low. Moore and colleagues (2021) measured the oxygen use of 235 adults aged 21 to 84 walking on a level treadmill. From 2.0 to 3.5 mph the measured figure was higher than the equation’s by 2.11 ml per kg per minute on average, and the gap grew with speed: 1.21 at 2.0 mph and 4.07 at 3.5 mph. For a 155 lb person, 2.11 ml per kg per minute is 22 kcal over 30 minutes.
- The same paper traces the speed part of the equation to treadmill measurements of three trained men.
- The calculator treats the walk as one steady effort. For a walk with stops, or with hills in only part of it, work out each part and add them up.
- Oxygen is converted to energy at 5 kcal per liter, the same figure as the running and treadmill calorie calculators on this site. ACSM’s conversion table lists 4.9, which would make every result about 2% lower.
Questions
How many calories does walking a mile burn?
By the ACSM walking equation, a mile at 3 mph on level ground burns 63 kcal at 120 lb, 79 kcal at 150 lb, 94 kcal at 180 lb and 110 kcal at 210 lb, counting what you would have used at rest. Above resting it is 44, 55, 66 and 77 kcal, and that part is the same at any walking speed. The chart has more weights and speeds.
How many calories does walking for 30 minutes burn?
At 3 mph on level ground, 94 kcal at 120 lb, 118 kcal at 150 lb, 141 kcal at 180 lb and 165 kcal at 210 lb, in total. At 3.5 mph the same 30 minutes comes to 105, 132, 158 and 184 kcal. Double the numbers for an hour.
How many calories do 10,000 steps burn?
It depends on how far the steps take you and on your weight. By the height equations in the steps to miles calculator, 10,000 steps at 3 mph is 4.32 miles for a 5 ft 4 in woman and 4.55 miles for a 5 ft 10 in man. On level ground that walk burns 339 kcal for the woman at 150 lb (237 above resting) and 429 kcal for the man at 180 lb (299 above resting).
For your own numbers, convert your steps to a distance there, then enter that distance here.
Does walking faster burn more calories?
Per hour, yes: at 150 lb, 208 kcal an hour at 2.5 mph and 263 at 3.5 mph. Per mile, hardly: above resting the equation gives the same 55 kcal a mile at both speeds, and the total is slightly lower for the faster mile because it is over sooner.
Does walking uphill burn more calories?
Yes. In the equation each 1% of incline adds 18% of the cost of walking on the level. For a 180 lb person, a mile at 3 mph is 94 kcal on the flat, 118 at 2%, 153 at 5% and 213 at 10%.
Should I use total or above-resting calories?
Total includes the energy your body would have used anyway in that time, which the equation puts at 1.05 kcal per kg of body weight per hour. Above resting is the extra the walk cost. Use the one that matches what you are comparing it with.
Is this the same as the treadmill calorie calculator?
For walking, yes: both pages use the same ACSM walking equation, so the same weight, speed, incline and time give the same number. This page also takes a pace or a distance. The treadmill calorie calculator adds the running equation and the 12-3-30 setting.
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Sources
- American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 11th ed. Wolters Kluwer; 2021. Metabolic equation for walking, and the speeds at which it is most accurate.
- Moore CC, Aguiar EJ, Ducharme SW, Tudor-Locke C. Development of a cadence-based metabolic equation for walking. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2021;53(1):165-173. Free full text. It restates the ACSM walking equation and its speed range, and tests the equation on 235 adults.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How to measure physical activity intensity. 4 December 2025.
- 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.