In short, at a jog speed of 10’51″mile, you’ll be doing about 1581 steps per mile. Keep in mind that this result equates to someone who is 5.9 feet (180 cm) tall and has a leg length of 3.1 feet (95 cm).
Table of Contents
- How many steps are there in a jogging mile?
- What factors cause variability in the amount of steps?
- Why is it relevant to know the amount of steps in a mile?
How many steps are there in a jogging mile?
A jogging mile will have a different amount of steps compared to a mile you run. Jogging is in fact at a slower pace and this will result in more steps. To investigate exactly how many steps are in a jogging mile, I jogged a mile 4 times, below you can see the results.
| Number of steps | Average speed (time in minutes and seconds per mile) | |
| First time | 1540 | 10’31″mile (6’30″km) |
| Second time | 1595 | 10’54″mile (6’43″km) |
| Third time | 1605 | 11’02″mile (6’49″km) |
| Fourth time | 1584 | 10’58″mile (6’46″km) |
At first glance, the data appears to be reliable. In the first 3 sessions, you can see that a lower speed leads to more steps. That is logical; in most cases, you will take smaller steps at a lower speed and therefore end up with more steps.
From this data, we arrive at an average step number of 1581 at an average speed of 10 minutes and 51 seconds per mile. It is also important to know that I am 5.9 feet (180 cm) tall and have a leg length (measured from ankle to hip) of 3.1 feet (95 cm).
Want to know if it’s better to run faster or longer? Then click here.
What factors cause variability in the amount of steps?
Of course not everyone will reach the same amount of steps when they jog a mile, several factors affect the number of steps. Below we explain the most important factors:
Your average speed : At a higher speed you will increase your stride rate, but also (almost always) your stride size (up to a certain speed). So a faster jogging speed will generally result in fewer steps in a mile. It will differ greatly per person what people find a nice jogging pace, so it is important to take this into account.
Your height and leg length : Height and leg length are, of course, closely related; someone who is taller than someone else will usually also have longer legs. However, this is not always the case and it is important to look more at the leg length than at the total length of your body. Leg length is a more reliable predictor of the number of steps in a mile than normal body length. Someone with a longer leg length will generally take larger steps and therefore fewer steps in a mile.
Your gender : A factor that has less influence, but does have an effect, is your gender. In general, men take bigger steps compared to women. However, this factor will mainly have an influence at higher speeds, at a jogging pace the influence will be quite minimal.
Your age : Your age also plays a role in how many steps you will take in a mile. After you have fully grown your stride size will slowly decrease. This effect is again small and mainly plays a role at higher speeds.
Why is it relevant to know the amount of steps in a mile?
Now that you know how many steps there are in a jogging mile, it is of course also useful to know what this means to you. First of all, you can adjust your training to achieve a certain amount of steps. For example, 5,000 steps in a running session is a good goal.
It also gives motivation. You can combine it well with the steps outside your training that you take in a day. For example, you can set a goal to take 10,000 steps per day. This is a great goal that can greatly improve your health.
Lifestyle coach [5+ years of fitness experience]