20,480 Steps to Miles

Walking 20,480 steps works out to about 10.24 miles. To put that in perspective, it's close to a 10 mile road race. That's about 232% of the 8,818 steps the average American walks daily, per NHANES data.

Distance

10.24Miles

a 10 mile road race

3 hr 25 minWalk Time
819 kcalCalories
232%vs. US Avg

Steps to Your Next Goal

How 20,480 steps stacks up against a few common step and distance goals.

5K

Cleared by 14,280

10K

Cleared by 8,080

15K

Cleared by 1,880

Half Marathon

5,720more steps

Walking this instead of driving saves about 4,096g CO2 (9.03 lb).

Full breakdown →

That 819 kcal is the flat estimate. Your real number changes with weight and pace.

Personalized breakdown →

Jump to Another Step Count

Distance Snapshot

  • a 10 mile road race
  • Also in range: a full day of sightseeing on foot in a major city

Guess the Distance

Which is farther: 20,480 steps, or A half marathon?

Not quite.

20,480 steps10.24 mi
A half marathon13.10 mi

20,480 Steps to Miles, By Height

The 2,000-steps-per-mile figure above is a flat average. Stride length actually scales with height, so the same 20,480 steps covers a different distance depending on how tall the walker is.

HeightDistance
Short (~5'2")8.30 mi
Average (~5'7")8.97 mi
Tall (~6'2")9.90 mi

Keep This Up

If 20,480 steps became a daily habit instead of a one-time count, here's what it adds up to over time.

PeriodStepsDistanceCalories
Weekly143,36071.7 mi5,734 kcal
Monthly614,400307.2 mi24,576 kcal
Yearly7,475,2003,737.6 mi299,008 kcal

Where 20,480 Steps Ranks

Activity levels are commonly grouped by daily step count. Here's where 20,480 steps falls.

Activity LevelDaily Steps
SedentaryUnder 5,000
Low Active5,000–7,499
Somewhat Active7,500–9,999
Active10,000–12,499
Highly Active12,500+

Did You Know?

1

A large 2017 smartphone study across 46 countries (published in Nature) found average daily step counts varying enormously by country, roughly 4,000 to nearly 6,900. The researchers found that inequality in step counts within a country predicted obesity rates better than the average did.

2

George Meegan's 1977-1983 trek from the southern tip of South America to Alaska covered roughly 19,000 miles on foot the entire way, still recognized as the longest unbroken walking journey ever recorded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 20,480 steps a lot?

It's more than the average U.S. adult walks in a day. 20,480 steps is about 232% of the NHANES-measured daily average of 8,818 steps.

How long does it take to walk 20,480 steps?

At an average walking pace of about 3 mph, 20,480 steps takes roughly 3 hr 25 min. Walking slower or faster will shift that time up or down.