Steps to Calories Calculator
Enter your steps, weight and walking pace. You get the calories the walk uses and the part that is extra to resting.
How calories from steps are worked out
Your steps and weight, plus two published numbers for your pace.
Time = steps ÷ steps a minute
Steps a minute rise with speed, but less than speed does, so each step gets longer. Measured: about 96 steps a minute at 2 mph, 114 at 3, 122 at 3.5 and 129 at 4.
kcal = MET × weight × hours
A MET is the energy you use sitting still, about 1 kcal per kg an hour. Walking at 3 mph is 3.8 METs, so it uses 3.8 times as much.
On top of resting = (MET − 1) × weight × hours
Subtract the MET you would use at rest anyway. What is left is what the walk adds.
10,000 steps, worked through
A 70 kg person at an ordinary 3 mph.
- Time
- 88 min
- Distance
- 7.1 km4.4 mi
- Calories used
- 390 kcal
- On top of resting
- 288 kcal
Questions about steps and calories
How many calories does 10,000 steps burn?
About 390 calories for a 70 kg person at an ordinary 3 mph pace. That is 4.4 miles in about 88 minutes, and 288 of the calories are extra to what you would use sitting. Weight changes it too: 307 at 55 kg, 502 at 90 kg.
How many calories do you burn walking a mile?
About 89 calories for a 70 kg person at 3 mph, 65 of them extra to resting. A mile at that pace is about 2,272 steps. Pace changes the total by about 10% at most (89 to 98 across the four paces on this page), while weight changes it a lot: 70 at 55 kg, 114 at 90 kg.
How many calories does walking burn?
About 266 calories an hour for a 70 kg person at an ordinary 3 mph, which is 3 miles and 6,816 steps. That is 3.8 calories per kg an hour. At a slow pace it is 196 an hour, at a very brisk one 385.
How many calories do 5,000, 15,000 and 20,000 steps burn?
For a 70 kg person at an ordinary pace: 195, 585 and 781 calories. The 20,000 walk is 8.8 miles and takes 2 hours 56 minutes. The total grows in a straight line with steps, about 39 per 1,000 at this weight and pace, 29 of them extra to resting.
How many steps to burn 500 calories?
About 12,800 steps at an ordinary pace for a 70 kg person, counting everything the body uses while walking. If you count only the part on top of resting, it takes about 17,400. At 90 kg it is about 10,000 steps, and 1,000 calories takes double the steps: about 25,600 at 70 kg.
Does running burn more calories than walking?
This calculator covers walking only, so it has no running number to compare. Inside walking, speed already matters: 10,000 steps use 340 calories at a slow pace and 497 at a very brisk one for 70 kg. For running, look up its MET in the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities and use kcal = MET × kg × hours.
Why does my watch show a different number?
Watches can be far off: a Stanford study of seven wrist devices (Shcherbina and others, 2017) found energy errors of 27% to 93%. This calculator is an estimate too, built on average pace and published METs. Pick one source and compare your days against that source only.