Step counter
Step counter guides & calculators
Reviewed
Plain answers to the questions people ask about walking: how many steps a day, how far a step count goes, how many steps are in a mile or a kilometre, and how many calories it burns. Every number uses the same estimates as the AltFTool step counter.
Steps converter
Steps to kilometres, miles, calories and walking time, or a distance back to steps.
Convert steps or distance
- Steps
- 10,000
- Kilometres
- 7.5
- Miles
- 4.7
- Calories
- 420 kcal
Walking time: 2 h 5 min at 80 steps/min · 1 h 40 min at 100 steps/min · 1 h 23 min at 120 steps/min.
Estimate based on the 0.75 m average adult step and a 70 kg body weight. Nothing you type is saved or sent.
Step calculators
One job each: pick the question you have and get the answer for your height, weight or pace.
- Steps to km10,000 steps ≈ 7.5 km. Add your height for your own step length.
- Km to steps1 km ≈ 1,330 steps. Personal figure from your height.
- Steps to miles10,000 steps ≈ 4.7 miles; about 2,150 steps make a mile.
- Miles to steps1 mile ≈ 2,150 steps, from your height in ft/in or cm.
- Steps to calories10,000 steps ≈ 420 kcal at 70 kg. Scales with your weight.
- Stride length0.415 × height: about 71 cm a step at 170 cm. Or measure it.
- Walking time10,000 steps ≈ 1 h 40 min at a brisk 100 steps/min.
- Treadmill steps30 min at 5 km/h ≈ 3,160 steps. Enter km/h or mph.
- Walking cadenceSteps per minute and intensity: 100+ moderate, 130+ vigorous.
Guides
Sourced, reviewed explainers. Each one lists the research it draws on.
Daily steps and health
- How many steps a day should you aim for?How many steps a day you need, based on large studies: health gains climb steeply up to about 7,000 to 8,000 steps and level off after that. Plus a plan.
- How many steps a day by ageDaily step guidance by age group, from children and teens to adults under 60 and over 60, based on Tudor-Locke reviews, WHO guidelines and large studies.
- Is 10,000 steps a day a myth?The 10,000 steps goal began as a 1960s Japanese pedometer brand, not a study. What research says now, and whether 10,000 is still a good target for you.
- How many steps a day to lose weight?How many steps a day help with weight loss, how many calories extra steps burn by body weight, and why diet matters more than any step target on its own.
- How many steps a day for older adults?Steps a day for older adults: benefits level off around 6,000 to 8,000 after 60, with gains from about 4,400. Typical ranges and how to build up safely.
- Average steps per day by countryAverage daily steps by country from a Stanford study of 717,527 phone users in 111 countries: Hong Kong led with 6,880, India 4,297, Indonesia 3,513.
- Walking after meals: what a short walk can doWhat studies found about a 10 to 15 minute walk after eating and blood sugar, how many steps it adds to your day, and who should check with a doctor first.
Distance, pace and stride
- How many steps are in a mile?About 2,146 walking steps make a mile for an average adult. See steps per mile by height, how long a mile takes, and how to measure your own step.
- How many steps are in a kilometre?About 1,333 walking steps make a kilometre for an average adult. Steps per km by height, steps for 5 km and 10 km, and how to find your own.
- Brisk walking: how many steps per minute?Brisk walking is about 100 steps per minute for most adults, and around 130 is vigorous. How to check your cadence and use it to hit 150 minutes a week.
- Walking vs running: how do the steps compare?How walking and running steps compare per minute and per km, how a step counter handles running, and what large studies found about the benefits of each.
- How many steps are in a flight of stairs?Trackers count a floor as about 3 m of climbing, roughly 14 to 18 stair steps. How floors are counted and how stairs compare with walking for effort.
Counting and walking habits
- How to count steps without installing an appCount steps without a new app: the iPhone Health app, Google Fit or Samsung Health, a browser step counter, a clip-on pedometer, or counting by hand.
- How accurate are step counters?How accurate phone step counters, watches and pedometers are, why they miss or add steps, and simple ways to get a more reliable daily step count.
- Do step counters work on a treadmill?Why treadmill step counts differ between your phone, watch and the machine, how holding the handrails affects wrist trackers, and how to check your count.
- Japanese interval walking: the 3-minute methodJapanese interval walking alternates 3 minutes fast and 3 minutes slow. What the 2007 study found, how to do it, and how to pace it by steps per minute.
- How to increase your daily stepsHow to walk more every day, backed by trials: find your baseline, add 1,000 to 2,000 steps at a time, set a goal and build short walks into your routine.
- How to get your steps walking at homeIndoor walking ideas that add steps without going out, how many steps 10 minutes at home gives (about 800 to 1,000), and how to keep the pace brisk.
Step counts in km, miles and calories
Distance by height, calories by weight and walking time for each total.
How many steps in a distance?
Steps by height, time at 80–120 steps a minute and calories for common walks and races.
How many steps in a walk of N minutes?
Steps at a relaxed, brisk and fast pace, with distance and calories, for walks from 5 minutes to 2 hours.
Explore more
Ready to count your steps?
Open the free step counter in your phone browser. It counts on your device, with no app, no account and no tracking of where you walk.