How Many Steps In A Mile? - Access 2 Knowledge

Most measurements are absolute. How many inches in a yard? The answer is 36 inches. How long is a football field in feet? The answer is 300 feet. But how many steps are in a mile? The answer to that question is subjective. When trying to answer this question, it is clear that accuracy will be compromised to a certain extent. There are many factors that can influence the answer an individual gets. Relevant factors include weather conditions, the person’s height and weight, the altitude and the speed at which a person walks.

A Personal Matter
Trying to determine how many steps are in a mile becomes a very personal matter. The answer involves one very important factor. Who’s steps are were talking about? Obviously, a man who stands 6’3″ tall will have a much longer gait than a woman who stands at 5’1″. We may know there are 5,280 feet in a mile, but measurements like that are only useful when we know how many feet a person’s stride is equal to when walking. The reality is that every person’s answer figures to be a little different.

Two Best Ways To Determine the Answer
While none of the following methods are an exact science, they certainly are useful in getting to a meaningful answer.

The height method – This is the most scientific method available. It only requires that you take a person’s height (in feet) times 42% divided into 5,280 feet.
The other method requires a person to actually step off a mile. The individual needs to find a measured mile in order to assure as much accuracy as possible. The best place for this might be the track at the local high school or college. Most the tracks are quarter mile tracks, so it’s best to actually walk around all four times as opposed to walking around once and multiplying by four. If the track measures 400 meters, take the total steps times 1.009 to adjust the extra distance. Now, let the walking begin. It will be much easier to use a pedometer to do the counting instead of doing it manually. A pedometer requires you to enter a person’s average feet per stride. For men, the best estimate would be 2.5 feet, for women, the figure is 2.2 feet. A person will get a more accurate count if they can perform this task several times and then come up with an average number of steps.

After all things are considered, the question remains, how many steps in a mile? The answer is, there are an estimated 2,000-2,600 steps in a mile for the human adult depending largely on their stride.