Walking calorie calculator: an estimate from your pace

How many calories a walk burns depends on two things you know, your bodyweight and how long you walked, and one you can look up: the energy cost of your pace. Enter all three and the estimate updates as you type.

Estimate your walk

The calculator needs JavaScript, which looks to be switched off. The number here is the worked example, and the formula below works by hand.

How the calculator works

A MET is a unit of energy cost: the energy an activity uses compared with resting metabolic rate, and one MET is about 1.0 calorie per kilogram of bodyweight per hour.¹ So the estimate is:

Calories ≈ MET × bodyweight in kg × hours walked

Worked example: 180 lb is 81.6 kg, and a brisk 3.5 to 3.9 mph walk on level, firm ground is 4.8 METs.² 4.8 × 81.6 × 0.5 hours is about 196 calories. The same walk for an hour is about 392, and the same 30 minutes at a lighter bodyweight is less, because the estimate scales with bodyweight.

Where the MET values come from

The values come from the Compendium of Physical Activities, a list of the energy cost of more than a thousand activities, used in research. Its 2024 update for adults covers 1,114 activities, 93 of them under walking.¹ The calculator uses its level-walking rows, outdoors and on a treadmill at 0% grade, exactly as listed:²

The full list in the calculator adds the slower paces. Hills, grass, sand and carrying a load have rows of their own in the Compendium and aren’t in this calculator.²

Why it’s only an estimate

The Compendium’s own authors say its values don’t reflect precise energy use for any one person: they’re a starting point.¹ Two people of the same weight walking side by side can burn different amounts. The 2024 adult values are also for adults aged 19 to 59; data from people 60 and over were taken out and given a compendium of their own.¹

The number is a total, so it includes your resting energy use for the same time, about 1 calorie per kg per hour.¹ And it’s a calorie estimate, nothing more: this page doesn’t turn it into weight.

Questions

How many calories does a 30-minute walk burn?

It depends on your weight and pace. At a brisk 3.5 to 3.9 mph (4.8 METs), 30 minutes is about 196 calories at 180 lb, about 163 at 150 lb and about 218 at 200 lb. A slower 2.8 to 3.4 mph (3.8 METs) at 150 lb is about 129.

Can I enter steps instead of minutes?

Not here: the MET values are for time spent at a pace, so the calculator needs minutes. Time your walk instead. How many steps a day covers step counts.

Why does my treadmill or watch show a different number?

A treadmill or a watch works its number out its own way, which this page can’t check. This calculator uses the Compendium values and states them, so you can see exactly where its number comes from.

Is anything saved or sent?

No. The arithmetic runs in your browser, and the page keeps nothing once you close it.

If you’d rather have the week planned

How many steps a day explains how to build up your steps, and running vs walking compares the two. If you want walking, lifting and food fitted into one plan, coaching explains how it works, and apply tells me where you’re starting.