Enter your height or walk a known distance and count your steps to find your stride length. The Stride Length Calculator supports two methods — estimate by height or measure by steps — and compares your result to the global average for your sex.
Your Stride Length
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Stride Length (metres)
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Stride Length (inches)
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Average Stride Length for Your Sex
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vs. Average
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Steps per Kilometre
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You can calculate stride length in two ways. By height: multiply your height (in cm) by 0.43 for men or 0.413 for women to get an estimate. By steps: walk a known distance, count your steps, then divide the distance by the number of steps — the result is your stride length.
The average stride length for adult men is approximately 78 cm (about 30.7 inches), and for women it is around 70 cm (about 27.6 inches). Stride length varies with height, age, fitness level, and walking speed.
Find a flat, measured surface — such as a running track or a stretch you know is exactly 20–50 metres. Walk at your normal pace, count every step from start to finish, then divide the total distance by the number of steps. Repeat 2–3 times and take the average for best accuracy.
A step is the distance from when one foot contacts the ground to when the other foot contacts the ground. A stride is two steps — it covers the full cycle from one foot landing back to the same foot landing again. Some pedometers count steps; others count strides, so it is worth checking which unit your device uses.
A shorter stride length compared to average may simply reflect a shorter stature, but it can also indicate a cautious or shuffling gait. In older adults, a noticeably shortened stride can sometimes be linked to balance issues or early musculoskeletal changes. If you are concerned, speak with a healthcare professional.
Divide the distance by the number of steps: 20 m ÷ 25 = 0.8 m, which equals 80 cm. That is slightly above the average stride length for most adults.
Once you know your stride length, divide the target distance by your stride length to estimate the number of steps needed. For example, if your stride is 0.78 m and you want to walk 1 km, you would take approximately 1000 ÷ 0.78 ≈ 1,282 steps.
Yes. Faster walking and running naturally increase stride length as you push off more forcefully with each step. The height-based formula provides a resting/normal-pace estimate, so if you run or power-walk, your actual stride length will be longer than the formula predicts.