How many steps does the average person take daily?
The Power of Pacing: How Many Steps Do We Really Take?
With wearable fitness trackers surging in popularity, people are paying closer attention to their daily step counts—and the habit is paying off. According to the American Council on Exercise, individuals who monitor their steps walk an average of 2,500 more steps per day than those who do not.
If you are striving to reach the popular goal of 10,000 steps a day, your hard work is highly beneficial. Engaging in regular physical activity like walking lowers the risk of numerous health conditions, including:
Heart disease and stroke
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Obesity
Depression
Certain cancers (such as colon and breast cancer)
But how do your daily walking habits compare to the average person?
The Impact of Age and Sex Age is a significant factor in our daily movement. A 2011 review revealed that adults over 18 take between 4,000 and 18,000 steps daily. A separate 2011 review focusing on youth found that children and adolescents (under 18) take between 10,000 and 16,000 steps each day, though this number drops sharply as teens approach adulthood. Overall, younger adults are more likely than older adults to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aerobic activity guidelines.
Gender also plays a distinct role, with males generally walking more than females across all age groups. In childhood and adolescence, boys average 12,000 to 16,000 steps daily, while girls average 10,000 to 12,000. This gap persists into adulthood; a 2010 U.S. study of over 1,000 adults found that men took an average of 5,340 steps a day, compared to 4,912 for women.
How Your Job Affects Your Steps Unsurprisingly, your profession heavily influences your daily activity. In 2012, Jenny Craig conducted a small, informal project equipping 10 Australians in various professions with pedometers. Because this involved only one person per job and didn't control for age or sex, it isn't a peer-reviewed study, but it offers a fascinating snapshot of occupational activity (ranked highest to lowest):
Waiter: 22,778
Nurse: 16,390
Retail worker: 14,660
Farmer: 14,037
Stay-at-home parent: 13,813
Teacher: 12,564
Tradesperson: 11,585
Hairdresser: 9,209
Office worker: 7,570
Call center associate: 6,618
Global Step Counts Where you live also dictates how much you walk. A massive 2017 study utilized smartphone data to track the activity of 717,527 individuals across 111 countries over an average of 95 days.
Here are the daily averages for several notable countries:
Hong Kong: 6,880
China: 6,189
United Kingdom: 5,444
Germany: 5,205
France: 5,141
Canada: 4,819
United States: 4,774
Australia: 4,491
India: 4,297
Indonesia: 3,513
Why the global disparity? Researchers suggest several contributing variables, including a country's climate, income levels, obesity rates, and the general walkability of its sidewalks and roads.
Meeting the Goals: How Do You Measure Up? The CDC advises that adults engage in at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity (like brisk walking) every week. A "brisk" pace is generally around 100 steps per minute. To hit this minimum baseline solely through walking, you would need to log 15,000 brisk steps a week, which breaks down to slightly more than 2,000 brisk steps a day.
To maximize health benefits, the CDC suggests doubling that target to 300 minutes a week. This equates to about 30,000 steps weekly, or just under 5,000 brisk steps daily. Keep in mind that these targets refer specifically to fast-paced walking that leaves you slightly out of breath. Because everyday meandering doesn't hit this cardiovascular threshold, aiming for a total of 10,000 steps a day remains an excellent overarching goal—provided a portion of those steps are at a brisk pace.
Tips to Boost Your Daily Steps If you want to increase your daily count, try incorporating these simple habits into your routine:
Opt for the stairs instead of the elevator.
Park further away from store entrances when running errands.
Buddy up and walk with a friend.
Do active household chores and cleaning.
Utilize your work breaks for short walks.
Head to an indoor mall to walk when the weather is bad.