How many steps is 5 miles?
About 11,400 steps for an adult of average height, from about 10,100 at 6 ft 4 in to 13,200 at 4 ft 10 in. Five miles clears 10,000 steps at every height on the table. Here is the number for yours, and how to fit five miles into a day.
The numbers
Steps in 5 miles, by height
| 4 ft 10 in (1.47 m) | about 13,200 steps |
| 5 ft (1.52 m) | about 12,800 steps |
| 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) | about 12,300 steps |
| 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) | about 12,000 steps |
| 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | about 11,600 steps |
| 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | about 11,300 steps |
| 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | about 10,900 steps |
| 6 ft (1.83 m) | about 10,600 steps |
| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | about 10,300 steps |
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | about 10,100 steps |
Step length is about 41% of height. Give or take 10% for how you walk.
For the average American woman and man (according to the CDC)
| A woman, 5 ft 3.5 in | about 12,100 steps |
| A man, 5 ft 8.9 in | about 11,100 steps |
Average heights of US adults, from the CDC. A woman's step is almost the same share of her height as a man's, so the gap comes from height.
Against a daily step count
| A 5,000-step day | 229% of it |
| A 7,000-step day | 163% of it |
| A 10,000-step day | 114% of it |
For an adult of average height, walking only this distance.
On a reTrek route
8.0 km is 1/8 of the way to Everest Base Camp. At that distance a day, the whole route takes about 7 days.
About the Everest Base Camp routeTime and calories: How long does it take to walk 5 miles?
Try your own distance
Steps
about 11,400
10,300 to 12,600 depending on your stride, about 0.70 m a step at this height.
Distance
8.0 km · 5.0 miles
Time on foot
1 h 37 min
at 5 km/h, no stops
Calories
Depends on your weight more than anything else. Enter it to see an estimate.
That is 1/8 of the way to Everest Base Camp.
How many steps is 5 miles?
About 11,400 for an adult 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall. Five miles is 8,047 m, about 8 km, and a walking step is roughly 41% of your height, about 0.70 m for that adult. The average American woman (according to the CDC), at 5 ft 3.5 in, takes about 12,100, and the average American man, just under 5 ft 9 in, about 11,100. The table above has every height from 4 ft 10 in to 6 ft 4 in.
Is 5 miles more than 10,000 steps?
Yes, at every adult height. 10,000 steps is about 4.4 miles for an adult of average height, and even someone 6 ft 4 in, with a step of about 0.80 m, reaches 10,000 a little before the five-mile mark. So five miles walked is a 10,000-step day before anything else in the day is counted.
Does it count if you split it up?
Yes. Five miles is about an hour and 37 minutes at a normal pace, and few people have that in one block. They do not need it. A step count does not care whether the miles come in one walk or five, and the US Physical Activity Guidelines, since their 2018 edition, count moderate activity of any length toward the weekly total. The old rule that only bouts of 10 minutes or more counted is gone. A morning mile, two at lunch and two after dinner add up to the same 11,400 steps.
Five miles a day, counted toward somewhere
In reTrek those 11,400 steps become distance on a real trail. Pick a route, Everest Base Camp is free, and five miles a day carries you from Lukla to Base Camp in about 7 days, with a short film about the place waiting at each milestone. The walks can be as short and scattered as your day makes them. Every step lands on the same map.
Or take someone with you: walk the same route with a friend and pool your steps, or race each other to Base Camp.
Other distances in steps
Sources: One-mile step count at walking and running speeds, Hoeger et al., ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal, 2008 · Body measurements, average height of US adults, CDC FastStats (NHANES August 2021 to August 2023) · Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, US Department of Health and Human Services, 2018