How Many Calories Do You Burn Walking Per Mile?

two women walking together on a coastal mountain trail

Verywell

When it comes to burning calories while walking, your weight and the distance you walk are the biggest factors in calculating how many calories you burn. A good rules of thumb is that 180-pound person will burn about 100 calories when walking one mile and a 120-pound person will burn 65 calories walking one mile.

Below you can learn how many calories you are burning on your walk, depending on your weight and pace for various distances from one mile to the marathon distance of 26.2 miles. Read on to learn more about how many calories you burn walking a mile or more.

Calories at a Typical Walking Pace

Most people walk at a typical walking pace. This pace is generally how fast you would walk while walking your dog or walking with a friend or partner. This pace is the natural walking speed you fall into when going for a walk without attempting to walk fast.

To determine how many calories you are burning using the chart below, find your average weight at the top and the number of miles you walked on the left. This will show you the number of calories you burn when walking one mile or more. [The last two figures in the table are the 13.1-mile half-marathon distance and the 26.2-mile marathon distance.]

Calories Burned at a Typical Walking Pace

Weight (lbs)

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

250

275

300

Mile 1

53 cal.

64

74

85

96

106

117

133

146

160

Mile 2

106

128

149

170

191

213

234

266

292

319

Mile 3

160

191

223

255

287

319

351

399

439

479

Mile 4

213

255

298

340

383

425

468

532

585

638

Mile 5

266

319

372

425

479

532

585

665

731

798

Mile 6

319

383

446

510

574

638

702

798

877

957

Mile 7

372

447

521

595

670

744

819

931

1023

1117

Mile 8

426

510

595

680

766

850

936

1064

1170

1276

Mile 9

479

574

670

765

861

957

1053

1197

1316

1436

Mile 10

532

638

744

850

957

1063

1170

1330

1462

1595

Mile 13.1

697

836

975

1114

1254

1393

1533

1742

1915

2089

Mile 26.2

1394

1672

1949

2227

2507

2785

3065

3485

3830

4179

This chart represents a typical walking pace of 2.5 to 3.5 mph or a pace of 17 to 24 minutes per mile.

Calories Burned on a Brisk Walk

To see the effects of taking your walking speed up to brisk walking pace, check out the chart below. Keep in mind, you will burn more calories per mile as you increase your speed, but the biggest factor will still be how much you weigh.

One additional benefit of walking faster is that you can walk farther in the same amount of time. If you walk for a set amount of time, that will mean burning more calories during an exercise session.

Calories Burned on a Brisk Walk

Weight (lbs)

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

250

275

300

Mile 1

57 cal.

68

80

91

102

114

125

142

156

171

Mile 2

114

136

159

182

205

227

250

284

313

341

Mile 3

170

205

239

273

307

341

375

426

469

512

Mile 4

227

273

318

364

409

454

500

568

625

682

Mile 5

284

341

398

455

512

568

625

710

782

853

Mile 6

341

409

477

545

614

682

750

852

938

1023

Mile 7

398

477

557

636

716

795

875

994

1094

1194

Mile 8

454

546

636

727

818

909

1000

1136

1250

1364

Mile 9

511

614

716

818

921

1022

1125

1278

1407

1535

Mile 10

568

682

795

909

1023

1136

1250

1420

1563

1705

Mile 13.1

744

893

1041

1191

1340

1488

1638

1860

2048

2234

Mile 26.2

1488

1787

2083

2382

2680

2976

3275

3720

4095

4467

This chart represents a brisk walking pace of 4.0 mph or about 15 minutes per mile.

Calories Burned at Faster Speeds

If you typically walk at a faster speed, here are some additional charts to help you determine how many calories you are burning. One provides information on a 4.5 mph walking pace (13.3 minutes per mile); and the other provides information on a 5.0 mph walking pace (12 minutes per mile). Once you get to higher rates of exertion, you will be close to jogging or even running.

Calories Burned at a 4.5 mph Pace

Weight (lbs)

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

250

275

300

Mile 1

64 cal.

76

89

102

115

127

140

159

175

191

Mile 2

127

153

178

204

229

255

280

318

350

382

Mile 3

191

229

267

305

344

382

420

477

525

573

Mile 4

254

306

356

407

458

509

560

636

700

764

Mile 5

318

382

446

509

573

637

700

796

875

955

Mile 6

382

458

535

611

687

764

840

955

1050

1145

Mile 7

445

535

624

713

802

891

980

1114

1225

1336

Mile 8

509

611

713

814

916

1018

1120

1273

1400

1527

Mile 9

572

688

802

916

1031

1146

1260

1432

1575

1718

Mile 10

636

764

891

1018

1145

1273

1400

1591

1750

1909

Mile 13.1

833

1001

1167

1334

1500

1668

1834

2084

2293

2501

Mile 26.2

1666

2002

2334

2667

3000

3335

3668

4168

4585

5002

This chart represents a brisk to vigorous walking pace of 4.5 mph or about 13.3 minutes per mile.
Calories Burned at a Vigorous Pace

Weight (lbs)

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

250

275

300

Mile 1

73 cal.

87

102

116

131

146

160

182

200

218

Mile 2

145

175

204

233

262

291

320

364

400

436

Mile 3

218

262

305

349

393

437

480

545

600

655

Mile 4

291

349

407

466

524

582

640

727

800

873

Mile 5

364

437

509

582

655

728

800

909

1000

1091

Mile 6

436

524

611

698

785

873

960

1091

1200

1309

Mile 7

509

611

713

815

916

1019

1120

1273

1400

1527

Mile 8

582

698

814

931

1047

1164

1280

1454

1600

1746

Mile 9

654

786

916

1048

1178

1310

1440

1636

1800

1964

Mile 10

727

873

1018

1164

1309

1455

1600

1818

2000

2182

Mile 13.1

952

1144

1334

1525

1715

1906

2096

2382

2620

2858

Mile 26.2

1905

2287

2667

3050

3430

3812

4192

4763

5240

5717

This chart represents a vigorous walking pace of 5.0 mph or about 12 minutes per mile.

Other Ways to Track Calories Burned

If you walk for a specific time, such 15 minutes or 30 minutes, rather than for a specific distance, you may want to check a chart of walking calories burned by minutes walked. You also can use a fitness tracker, to calculate the calories burned by step counts, keeping in mind that a mile is an average of 2,000 to 2,400 steps, depending on your height and stride length. Or, you can use the calculator below to determine the number of calories you are burning based on your activity.

How Many Calories Does a 30-Minute Walk Burn?

This will vary based on factors such as weight. A 140-pound person walking at a brisk pace may burn about 160 calories in 30 minutes and 320 calories in an hour. A 220-pound person can burn about 250 calories in 30 minutes and 500 calories walking for an hour.

How to Burn More Calories

If you want to burn more calories while walking, the metabolic equivalents (MET) research that produced these calorie numbers show some ways to do it.

One way to burn more calories is by walking more miles. Keep in mind that going faster has little effect on the calories burned per mile, but it can make a difference in other ways. For instance, you will cover more distance in the same amount of time. If you only have 15 minutes or 30 minutes for walking, then going faster is a good strategy.

You also can try other forms of movement. Running and racewalking burn more calories per mile. Running burns more calories per mile than walking, likely due to the effort of the lift phase, which raises both feet off the ground at the same time during running. You can burn more calories by adding running intervals to your walking workouts.

With the racewalking technique, you use more muscles during a stride compared with regular walking or running. This results in burning more calories per mile. Adding hills, stairs, or treadmill incline to your walking workout will burn also will more calories and add intensity to your workout. You can also burn more calories walking by using fitness walking poles, which add an upper-body muscular effort to your walking workout.

You might be tempted to carry weights or put on a weighted backpack to help you burn more calories. But you should remember that this might put more strain on your joints and feet. It is better to walk a couple of extra minutes to make up the difference instead.

If weight management is one of your goals, one way to address that is to increase your activity to burn more calories each day. But you also will need to consider your nutritional needs as well You can use a weight loss calculator to see what your calorie goal should be depending on how physically active you are.

The key to burning more calories with physical activity is finding something you enjoy and doing it consistently. While the numbers look small, they will add up. If you enjoy walking with your dog or it is convenient to walk on your work breaks, you are more likely to do it and keep doing it.

That said, if you are new to exercise or walking, you may benefit from speaking with a healthcare provider first. They can review your fitness level and your medical history and let you know how much walking you should do when starting out.

1 Source
Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Ainsworth BE, Haskell WL, Herrmann SD, et al. 2011 compendium of physical activities: a second update of codes and MET values. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011;43(8):1575-81. doi:10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821ece12

Additional Reading

By Wendy Bumgardner
Wendy Bumgardner is a freelance writer covering walking and other health and fitness topics and has competed in more than 1,000 walking events.