Steps to Miles, Kilometres and Calories

Convert your steps into distance, walking time and calories burned. The calculator estimates your step length from your height, or uses your own step length if you know it.

Your step length is roughly 0.415 times your height for a man and 0.413 times your height for a woman. That is a common rule of thumb, not an official norm. Steps times step length gives the distance. Dividing that distance by your pace (4, 5.5 or 6.5 km/h) gives the walking time. For the calories the calculator uses the walking MET values of the Dutch Nutrition Centre (Voedingscentrum): 3.5 at 3 to 5 km/h, 4.3 at 5 to 6 km/h and 5.0 at 6 to 7 km/h. Energy use per minute is MET × 3.5 × weight (kg) ÷ 200, the Nutrition Centre formula. The time is set against the Dutch guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity a week.

• Step length from height is an average. Real step lengths differ per person and get longer at a higher pace. Measure your own step length for a more accurate result.
• The pace is a fixed speed: 4, 5.5 or 6.5 km/h. In real life you change pace, walk uphill and sometimes stand still.
• The MET values are those of the Dutch Nutrition Centre for adults. Children and teenagers have different values.
• The calories are the total energy use while walking, including what you would use at rest anyway.
• Your step counter or phone does not always count exactly. A difference of ten per cent happens.
• All three paces count as moderate intensity (MET 3 to 5.9) and count towards the activity guideline.

The button fills in the calculator above, so you can carry on from there.

• 10,000 steps in a day

  Distance

  7.26 km

  Number of steps 10,000 · Male · Height 175 cm · Own step length (optional) 0 cm · Weight 70 kg · Brisk (about 5.5 km/h, 3.4 mph)

• With your own step length

  Distance

  5.2 km

  Number of steps 8,000 · Female · Height 165 cm · Own step length (optional) 65 cm · Weight 62 kg · Brisk (about 5.5 km/h, 3.4 mph)

• A relaxed walk

  Distance

  3.3 km

  Number of steps 5,000 · Female · Height 160 cm · Own step length (optional) 0 cm · Weight 60 kg · Relaxed (about 4 km/h, 2.5 mph)

Sources

• WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (2020) (opens in a new tab)who.int · accessed 11 October 2026
• Pedestrian Inertial Navigation: An Overview of Model and Data-Driven Approaches (step length 0.415 and 0.413 times height) (opens in a new tab)arxiv.org · accessed 11 October 2026
• How fast is fast enough? Walking cadence (steps/min) as a practical estimate of intensity in adults | British Journal of Sports Medicine (opens in a new tab)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · accessed 11 October 2026
• Compendium of Physical Activities: Walking (opens in a new tab)pacompendium.com · accessed 11 October 2026

How we check it

This calculator has 11 fixed checks: 7 calculations with a result that is fixed in advance, and 4 cases of invalid input that must be rejected. They all run automatically every time we publish; if one fails, the calculator does not go live.

Last reviewed: 11 October 2026 · How we build and check our calculators

• Calories Burned CalculatorWork out how many calories you burn walking, cycling, running or swimming, using the formula and MET values of the Dutch Nutrition Centre.
• Physical Activity Guideline CalculatorEnter how many minutes a week you move at moderate intensity and how often you train muscles and bones, and see how that compares with the Dutch physical activity guideline.
• BMI CalculatorCalculate your body mass index from your height and weight, and see which weight range is healthy for your height.