We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.

Advertiser Disclosure

Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

How We Make Money

We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently from our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.

How Much Do People Walk in Their Lifetime?

The average person will walk about 100,000 miles (160,934.4 km) in his or her lifetime, roughly equal to four trips around the Earth. There are differences in the walking habits of people living in different nations. For example, the average American adult takes about 5,117 steps per day, and the average person in Western Australia takes 9,695 steps. Gender also plays a role, with men taking an average of 5,340 steps per day, compared with 4,912 for women.

More about walking :

  • The average walking speed for an adult is 3.1 miles (5 km) per hour.

  • People in developed nations such as the United States, New Zealand and Canada consider walking a quarter of a mile (402.3 m) to public transportation to be reasonable, but they will walk longer distances to get to a faster transit option.

  • One report showed that, among US cities, Boston has the highest number of people who walk or use bicycles to get around. About 13.5% of Boston's workers walk to their jobs.

Discussion Comments

By anon340617 — On Jul 04, 2013

How many extra miles does somebody walk in their lifetime when they walk back to get something they forgot?

By InfoNut — On Sep 01, 2012

@orehnjaca & @habura: the first person to do it, according to Guinness Book of World Records, was Dave Kunst from 1970 - 1974

By Orehnjaca — On Aug 31, 2012

@habura - It's not possible to walk the actual circumference of world because of the water!

By habura — On Aug 31, 2012

Has anyone ever walked around the world?

By dudla — On Aug 30, 2012

There's a program that advocates 10,000 steps which they say is almost 5 miles. If you do 5 miles every day and you live to 78, that's more than 140,000 miles (225,000 km) in your lifetime! Which is more than 5 and a half times around the circumference of the earth (24,901 miles - 40,075 km).

WiseGEEK, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGEEK, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.