Are you curious about the number of steps it takes someone to travel the distance of one kilometer?
Well, the truth is that the number of steps required to cover one kilometer varies from one person to the next because everyone has a different stride and step length.
And that means it takes some of us more steps to reach one kilometer than others.
That being said, the average range is between 1265 and 1515 steps are in one kilometer.
Below we’ll dig a bit more into the specifics of this calculation.
How To Calculate The Number Of Steps In A Kilometer
In order to know how many steps is takes you to reach one kilometer, you need to know the length of your step.
Your step length is the distance that you cover with each step you take.
Usually, the longer your legs, then the longer your step length and the more distance you cover per step.
On average, a person’s step length looks like this:
- 2.6 feet, or 0.79 meters for men
- 2.2 feet, or 0.66 meters for women
To calculate the number of steps in a kilometer based on step length, you need to know that 1,000 meters make up one kilometer.
Knowing that, simply divide 1000 meters by step length (in meters) to get the number of steps in a kilometer.
1000 m / step length (m) = number of steps in a kilometer
Using the gendered averages above, that results in the following calculations:
- 1265 steps in a kilometer for men
- 1515 steps in a kilometer for women
And remember, these figures are just averages.
How To Calculate Your Step Length
If you’re like most people, then you have no idea how long your step length is.
The best way to figure this out is to actually measure it.
A good way to do this is to lay out some cardboard (or use the pavement), then step in some water so that you leave wet footprints on the cardboard as you walk.
Then, measure the distance between those footprints (heel to heel) to get your step length.
Make sure you are measuring heel to heel for the most accurate distance measurement.
Step Length vs Stride Length
If you’re like me, then you may assume that step length and stride length are the same thing – but they are not the same.
I didn’t learn this until I was researching this very subject.
Your stride length is actually the distance that you cover for every two steps that you take, where as your step length is the distance you cover when you take a single step.
To calculate your stride length, just multiply your step length by two.
Step length * 2 = stride length
And that’s all you have to do to find out what your stride length is when you’re walking.
Final Word
Now that you know how to calculate your step length, you’re able to calculate exactly how many steps it takes you to walk one kilometer.
You can even use the information above to determine how many steps are in a kilometer for everyone in your family.