Walking Walking for Weight Loss How Many Calories Does Walking Burn? Use a calculator or charts by weight, distance, and pace to check calorie burn By Wendy Bumgardner Wendy Bumgardner Facebook Twitter Wendy Bumgardner is a freelance writer covering walking and other health and fitness topics and has competed in more than 1,000 walking events. Learn about our editorial process Updated on August 10, 2022 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Tara Laferrara, CPT Reviewed by Tara Laferrara, CPT Tara Laferrara is a certified NASM personal trainer, yoga teacher, and fitness coach. She also created her own online training program, the TL Method. Learn about our Review Board Print Verywell / Ryan Kelly Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Calories Burned Per Mile Other Tools to Track Calories How to Burn More Calories Are You Burning Enough Calories? Frequently Asked Questions If you walk for exercise, you likely want to know how many calories are burned walking one mile, two miles, or more. Your weight and the distance you walk are the biggest factors in how many calories you burn while walking. A rule of thumb is that you burn about 100 calories per mile for a 180-pound person and 65 calories per mile for a 120-pound person. Your walking speed matters less. To burn 1000 calories then, you'd need to walk for 10 miles as a 180-pound person. Use these charts to 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. First, take a look at the calories you would burn per mile at a typical walking pace you'd enjoy while taking a healthy walk or walking your dog. This pace is the natural one you'd assume when just going for a walk without attempting to walk fast. Calories Burned Walking 2.5 to 3.5 mph by Miles and Weight (Pace of 17 to 24 Minutes per Mile or 10 to 14 Minutes per Kilometer) 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 Those last two figures are the 13.1-mile half-marathon distance and the 26.2-mile marathon distance. Calories Burned Per Mile Now see the effects of taking your walking speed up to brisk walking paces of 4 mph or more. You will burn more calories per mile as you increase your speed, but the most significant factor will still be how much you weigh. One benefit of walking faster is walking farther in the same amount of time. Walking for a set amount of time will mean burning more calories during an exercise session. Calories Burned Walking 4.0 mph by Miles and Weight (Pace of 15 Minutes per Mile or 9 Minutes per Kilometer) 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 Calories Burned Walking 4.5 mph by Miles and Weight (Pace of 13.3 Minutes per Mile or 8 Minutes per Kilometer) 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 Calories Burned Walking 5.0 mph by Miles and Weight (Pace of 12 Minutes per Mile or 7.5 Minutes per Kilometer) 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 Other Tools to Track Calories Suppose you walk for a specific time, such as 15 minutes or 30 minutes, rather than for a particular distance. In that case, you may want to check a chart of walking calories burned by minutes walked and walking pace or use a calories burned exercising calculator. You can check a pedometer chart for the calories burned by step counts using a pedometer. A mile averages 2,000 to 2,400 steps, depending on height and stride length. How to Measure Your Steps Per Mile 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. You will burn more calories by walking more miles. Going faster at a walking pace has little effect on the calories burned per mile, but it can make a difference because you'll cover more distance in the same amount of time. Going faster is a good strategy if you only have 15 minutes or 30 minutes for walking. 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 simultaneously while 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 than regular walking or running, which results in burning more calories per mile. Adding hills, stairs, or treadmill incline to your walking workout will burn more calories and add intensity to your activity. You can also burn more calories walking by using fitness walking poles, which add an upper-body muscular effort to your walking workout. The charts show that you burn more calories per mile by weighing more. You might be tempted to carry weights or put on a weighted backpack. But it would help if you considered that this would put more strain on your joints and feet. Walking for a couple of extra minutes is better to make up the difference instead. Are You Burning Enough Calories? To lose weight, you need to increase your activity to burn more calories each day and/or eat fewer calories each day. You can use a weight loss calculator to see what your calorie goal should be depending on how physically active you are. A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. To lose one pound a week, you need to burn about 500 more calories daily than you eat. You can do this by increasing your calorie-burning activity, eating fewer calories, or both. It is easier to achieve this goal by combining increased activity and eating less. Exercising enough each day to burn 300 to 400 calories is a good goal for the exercise portion of your weight loss plan. A Word From Verywell The key to burning more calories with physical activity is finding something you enjoy and doing it consistently. If you enjoy walking with your dog or it is convenient to walk on your work breaks, you are likelier to keep doing it. While the numbers look small, they will add up. To reduce your health risks and maintain fitness, health authorities recommend 10 minutes of brisk walking at a time, three times per day, or a single 30-minute walk per day. By walking a total of 2 to 3 miles per day, you will not only be burning calories but also boost your health. Walking Workout Plan for Weight Loss Frequently Asked Questions How far do you have to walk to burn 1000 calories? If you are a 180lb person, you will need to walk 10 miles to burn 1000 calories, on average. The actual amount of calories burned will depend on several factors such as whether you are walking on hills/incline, your speed, your height, and physiology. Is walking enough to lose weight? Walking is not enough to lose weight alone. You will also need to ensure your calorie intake is less than what you burn throughout the day. If you create a calorie deficit with your diet and walking, that is enough to lose weight. If you continue to eat the same amount of calories, but add walking, you may lose weight if this leads to a deficit. Is it better to walk faster or longer? It is a personal choice whether you would like to walk faster or longer to burn a specific number of calories or obtain health benefits. Faster walking may provide some additional benefits for heart health, however. Learn More: Benefits of Brisk Walking 2 Sources 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. 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 Bai X, Soh KG, Omar Dev RD, Talib O, Xiao W, Cai H. Effect of brisk walking on health-related physical fitness balance and life satisfaction among the elderly: a systematic review. Front Public Health. 2022;9:829367. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.829367 Additional Reading Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Physical activity guidelines for Americans. Editorial Process Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies