How many calories walking burns
Enter your weight, how many minutes you walked and at what pace. The calculator shows what the walk burned on top of rest and in total. It uses the Compendium of Physical Activities, no made-up multipliers.
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Where the number comes from
The formula, a worked example and where it stops working
How many calories walking burns
Walking energy is measured in METs: how many times more energy an activity uses than sitting quietly. One MET is 1 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour. The formula is simple: MET × weight × hours. An ordinary walk at an average pace is 3.8 METs. Someone who weighs 70 kg burns 266 kcal in an hour of that. But 70 of those they'd have burned sitting at home anyway: your heart, lungs and brain never stop. So the honest answer to "how much did my walk burn" is 196 kcal on top of rest. The calculator shows both numbers and leads with the second. The faster the pace and the heavier you are, the more you burn: an hour of brisk walking at 70 kg is 266 kcal on top of rest. All METs come from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities. It's an estimate for an average person, not a reading of your heart rate or breathing, so some error either way is almost certain.
The MET definition and walking values come from the Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, 2024 (Herrmann SD et al., Journal of Sport and Health Science, 2024).
Where the numbers for each pace come from
The walking section of the Compendium gives speeds in miles per hour; I've added km/h rounded to one decimal (1 mile = 1.609 km). Every row is walking on flat, firm ground except the last one.
| Pace | Speed | MET | Compendium code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow | 2.0–2.4 mph (3.2–3.9 km/h) | 2.8 | 17152 |
| Average | 2.8–3.4 mph (4.5–5.5 km/h) | 3.8 | 17190 |
| Brisk | 3.5–3.9 mph (5.6–6.3 km/h) | 4.8 | 17200 |
| Very brisk | 4.0–4.4 mph (6.4–7.1 km/h) | 5.5 | 17220 |
| Uphill, very slow | 5–20% grade, no load | 5.0 | 17032 |
Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, 2024.
Table: a 30-minute walk
Calories burned on top of rest in 30 minutes, by weight and pace. Walking for an hour? Double it.
| Weight | Slow | Average | Brisk | Very brisk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 kg | 54 | 84 | 114 | 135 |
| 70 kg | 63 | 98 | 133 | 158 |
| 80 kg | 72 | 112 | 152 | 180 |
| 90 kg | 81 | 126 | 171 | 203 |
| 100 kg | 90 | 140 | 190 | 225 |
Calories above rest for a 30-minute walk on flat ground. METs from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities: slow 2.8, average 3.8, brisk 4.8, very brisk 5.5.
An hour of walking: on top of rest and in total
The same walk, with the gap between the two numbers laid out. At 70 kg, "rest" is 70 kcal an hour, and it sits inside the total at any pace.
| Pace | Above rest, kcal | Total, kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 126 | 196 |
| Average | 196 | 266 |
| Brisk | 266 | 336 |
| Very brisk | 315 | 385 |
One hour of walking on flat ground, 70 kg. "Total" includes what your body would burn sitting still anyway.
How to walk so you burn more
The formula shows there are three things you can change: time, pace and incline. Weight counts too, but nobody changes their weight for the sake of a walk.
Time is the most reliable lever. Adding ten minutes to a daily walk is easier than suddenly speeding up, and easier to keep up for weeks. Pace is the second: going from an average to a brisk pace takes the MET from 3.8 to 4.8, so the calories on top of rest go up by about a third. Incline is the third: walking uphill, even very slowly, burns more than brisk walking on the flat.
What matters most isn't one long weekend walk but the habit. Half an hour every day adds up to more over a week than one big hike that leaves your legs sore and makes you want to quit.
Why your fitness tracker says something else
Watches and trackers usually show the total, including what your body burns at rest. On top of that, every brand has its own algorithm: some estimate from heart rate, others from steps and the accelerometer. So your tracker, the treadmill and this calculator almost never agree.
Arguing over which one is right is pointless — they're all estimates. It's more useful to stick with one source and compare yourself with yourself: did you walk more than yesterday, or less?
Why you shouldn't eat back what you burned
When you work out your calorie target, you pick an activity level. That's how the FAO/WHO approach works too: daily energy use is your basal metabolism times your physical activity level (see the FAO/WHO/UNU 2004 report). If you walk every day, those walks are already in the multiplier.
Adding the tracker's calories on top means counting the same walk twice. That's a common story: you eat "to target", you walk, and the weight doesn't move. If you picked a generous activity level, don't log your walks separately. You can sanity-check the multiplier in the TDEE calculator.
What to do with the number
Walking is a good way to burn a bit more without working out, but what you eat still decides the outcome. If your goal is to lose weight, start with a calorie deficit and treat walking as a nice buffer on top. If you're eating less, walking plenty and the scale won't move, read why you might not be losing weight on a deficit.
A walk burns less than it feels like, and the snack afterwards can easily cancel it out. To keep that in view, there's a bot that counts calories from a photo or voice note: snap your plate and the calories are already logged.
Frequently asked questions
How many calories does walking burn per hour?
It depends on your weight and pace. At 70 kg, an hour at an average pace is 196 kcal on top of rest and 266 in total; at a brisk pace it's 266 and 336. The calculator above works out your own numbers.
How many calories do 10,000 steps burn?
The calculator doesn't take steps: turning them into distance needs your stride length, and that differs from person to person. It's easier to check how many minutes those steps took and enter the time. Your phone or tracker usually shows it in the walk history.
Does walking or running burn more calories?
For the same time, running usually burns more because its MET is higher. I don't give running figures here: this calculator only covers walking. If you're choosing between them, what matters more is the one you'll actually keep doing.
Should I log walking if I already picked an activity level?
If you walk every day and counted that when you chose your activity level, no — otherwise you count it twice. Only add what goes beyond a normal day, like a long weekend hike.
How many calories does incline walking on a treadmill burn?
If you walk slowly at a 5 to 20% incline, pick "Uphill, very slow" — that's the Compendium row with 5 METs. There's no row for brisk incline walking in the calculator, so it will show less than you actually burn.
Why doesn't the calculator ask for my sex and height?
The MET formula only uses weight, pace and time. Sex and height don't enter into it, so there's no point asking.
Reminders
Water and weight