The quick answer
A mile is 1,609 metres. Divide that by your step length and you have your steps per mile. Our step counter uses 0.75 m as the average adult walking step when it knows nothing about you, which gives about 2,146 steps per mile.
A step is one foot landing. A stride, in the strict sense, is two steps (left plus right). Many apps say stride when they mean step, so check which one a figure refers to.
Put the other way round, every 1,000 steps is about 0.5 miles for an average adult. A 10,000-step day is about 4.7 miles, and a typical 30-minute brisk walk of 3,000 steps is about 1.4 miles.
Steps per mile by height
A widely used estimate puts walking step length at about 0.415 times body height. It is the same rule our counter applies when you enter your height. Real step length also depends on pace, leg length, footwear and the ground, so treat these as starting points.
| Height | Step length | Steps per mile |
|---|---|---|
| 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) | 0.62 m | 2,585 |
| 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) | 0.66 m | 2,424 |
| 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | 0.71 m | 2,281 |
| 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | 0.75 m | 2,154 |
| 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | 0.79 m | 2,041 |
How long a mile takes
Walking at 100 steps a minute is the research line for moderate intensity in adults. The times below use that pace and the average step, so they are a guide, not a stopwatch.
| Distance | Steps | Walking time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mile | 2,146 | 21 min |
| 2 miles | 4,292 | 43 min |
| 3 miles | 6,437 | 1 h 4 min |
| 5 miles | 10,729 | 1 h 47 min |
Walking vs running
When you speed up, your steps get longer as well as quicker. Running steps vary a lot with speed, so there is no single figure. As a worked example, if your running step is 1 metre, a mile is about 1,609 steps, compared with 2,146 walking at the average 0.75 m. The faster you go, the fewer steps a mile takes.
That is why a single steps-per-mile figure works best for one activity at one pace. If you mix walking and running, distance worked out from steps will drift.
Measure your own steps per mile
The most reliable number is your own. Use a running track (four laps of the inside lane is about a mile, and one lap is 400 m) or any distance you have measured with a map.
- Walk a known distance at your normal pace and count your steps, or let a step counter count them.
- Divide the distance in metres by your step count to get your step length.
- Divide 1,609 by that step length to get your steps per mile.
- Repeat once or twice and average the results.
- Enter your height in our step counter's settings and its distance figures use 0.415 x your height instead of the 0.75 m average.