How long does it take the average person to walk 10,000 steps?
Your fitness tracker or smart watch probably tells you how many steps you take most days. And your device likely sets the goal of 10,000 steps or maybe that’s what you’ve entered as your daily step-count target. This number has become the popular goal for many people and for good reason: Moving more throughout the day is good for your body in numerous ways and it supports your mind, too.
In fact, every 1,000 steps a person takes each day lowers their systolic blood pressure (the top number) by about 0.45 points—that’s a good thing, especially for your heart. The more you move, the more likely you are to lower your risk of chronic illness, like cardiovascular disease, and support your mental health.
Now, if you’re wondering how long it takes to walk 10,000 steps so you actually meet this goal, we got you. Here, two exercise physiologists explain how long it typically takes to cover 10,000 steps, depending on your average pace, so you can carve out time for your body and mind to clock more movement.
How long does it take to walk 10,000 steps?
For a person of average height (5-foot-3-inches for women and 5-foot-9-inches for men), a 2,000-step walk is about a mile, according to Laura A. Richardson, Ph.D., a clinical exercise physiologist and clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology.
This step count varies depending on the length of someone’s leg and the length of their stride, as well as their cadence. However, say it takes you 2,000 steps to cover one mile, and you walk at an average pace of about 20 minutes per mile, then it would take you about 100 minutes to walk 10,000 steps, Richardson explains.
Authors of a 2020 article published in Sustainability reviewed studies that examined walking habits in order to suggest ways to increase activity, and they came to a similar conclusion on timing. They found that healthy older adults typically average 100 steps per minute when moving at a moderate pace. This translates to about 100 minutes to clock 10,000 steps.
This will obviously change depending on your walking pace, though. If you walk a 15-minute mile, it’ll take you 75 minutes to cover 10,000 steps, and if you walk a 30-minute mile, it’ll take you 150 minutes (or 2.5 hours) to cover those 10,000 steps.
There are other factors that play into the time it takes, though, including age and fitness level, as well as the “walkability” of a given location. For example, walking up a rocky hill in the Peak District or the Lakes will take longer than walking on an uncrowded street.
To help you figure out your 10,000 step time, you can also check out these average walking times for different age groups, according to research. Or look to your fitness tracker to find your average walking speed.
Average Walking Time Based on Age Group
The numbers change, of course, if you run some of those 10,000 steps, explains Rachelle Reed, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist. A large study published in 2020 found the average walking pace was 3 miles per hour. So it would take the average person one hour and forty minutes to walk 10,000 steps. Although males tend to have faster overall walking speed than females, studies indicate that people of both sexes will adjust their average walking speed to match an opposite-sex companion.
How many calories do you burn per 10,000 steps?
To figure out how many calories you burn walking 10,000 steps, you need to know the metabolic equivalent rate (MET) for your exact pace. A MET is determined by multiplying the body’s oxygen consumption by bodyweight every minute. One MET is roughly equal to the amount of oxygen you consume at rest and is also equal to one calorie.
Following that equation, the National Academy of Sports Medicine says walking at less than two miles per hour is equivalent to 2 METs per minute, which means someone who weights 150 pounds burns fewer than 140 calories per hour. Meanwhile, that same person walking at a brisk pace of approximately 3.5 miles per hour is equivalent to 4.5 METs, leading to a calorie burn of about 306 per hour.
Walking at a very brisk pace of four to six miles per hour is roughly equivalent to 5 METs, per the NASM. “It’s five times the amount of energy you need compared to rest,” Reed adds. Thus, you can burn around 340 calories per hour.
To put that in the context of 10,000 steps: Let’s say you walk about three miles per hour (20-minute mile), but it takes you one hour and 40 minutes (100 minutes) to cover 10,000 steps. In that time, you would burn approximately 450 calories (based on a 150-pound person).
To get a more specific number, use a calculator like the one from Cornell University, to figure out exactly how many calories you burn taking 10,000 steps.
What’s better: Walking 10,000 steps at once or throughout the day?
Richardson and Reed agree that the health benefits of walking 10,000 steps, as well as the calorie-burning effects are always positive, and never negatively affected by whether they are done all at once or throughout the day.
If walking 10,000 steps takes about 90 minutes and you just don’t have that much time during one outing, you might be able to break it up throughout the day—say 30 minutes in the morning, 30 at lunch, and 30 after work—and that’s just as good, Richardson says.
In fact, breaking it up may actually have some added benefits for the “active couch potato,” says Reed. “An active couch potato is when you get up, do a workout, and the rest of your day you’re sitting still,” Reed explains. Plus, research shows several benefits of movement “snacks,” including helping you build muscle, which can boost your metabolism.
The more important consideration is making sure you get those steps in every day, rather than once in a while. Richardson recommends choosing to walk at times that give you the fewest barriers to commitment. One option might be walking the kids to school and back, rather than driving.
How can you boost the benefits of your 10,000 steps?
To truly kick up the calorie burn, you have to change the intensity of your movement, which might mean adding in some running, walking at an incline on the treadmill, or walking up a hill, according to Richardson.
Reed suggests adding a weighted vest to your walks (or runs) a.k.a. rucking to increase the intensity level.
Finally, you may wonder if getting those steps on the treadmill is as beneficial as heading outside. There are pros and cons to both. “Pros of a treadmill are it’s easier to manipulate,” Reed says. “You can have complete control over the length of the intervals, the speed, and the incline much more easily there. But there’s also something to be said about getting your physical activity outside. There are additional mental benefits like stress relief and feeling more connected with your environment that people can gain from being active outside.”
Richardson agrees: “The nice thing about being outdoors is the sunlight, the fresh air, the different level terrain, depending on what type of surface someone’s walking on, that can engage different muscles,” she says. “So again, pros and cons to both. Really, choose whatever you’re going to stick with. That’s the biggest piece of it.”
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