59 Of The Latest Walking Statistics

Check out these latest statistics on walking! You will find statistics about walking, the health benefits of walking and more.

There are so many surprising benefits of walking! These statistics will provide you with more motivation to get walking or help you learn some new info about walking. Keep reading to learn more.

59 Of The Latest Walking Statistics

General Walking Statistics

1. Walking is the most popular form of exercise, with six out of 10 people reporting walking at least once in the past week. (CDC) 

2. People who track their steps take an average of 2,500 more steps each day. (ACE)

3. Taking less than 5,000 steps each day is considered sedentary. (ACE)

4. Dog owners walk four times more than non-owners. (The Ladders) 

5. The fastest 5k (3.1 miles) time for walking is 21:58 (about a 7-minute mile) for a woman and 19:09 (about a 6-minute mile) for a man—faster than most runners. (ACE)

6. The average person walks about 110,000 miles, which is the equivalent of 5 trips around the Earth. (Snowbrains) 

7. On an average day, 30% of Americans walk for exercise. (Everyday Health) 

8. The first Wednesday in April is National Walking Day. (ACE)

9. The average age when a child learns to walk is 12 months. (Science Daily) 

10. Some jobs require more moving; waiters walk an average of 23,000 steps a day, nurses 16,000 steps, and retail workers 15,000 steps. (ACE) 

11. People who live in cities have a lower risk of being overweight because they walk more, compared to those who live in the suburbs. (Harvard) 

12. Focusing on an object ahead of you can increase your speed by as much as 23 percent. (ACE)

13. The average walking speed of an adult is 3 mph. (Healthline) 

14. Walking a typical 18-hole golf course equates to about 12,000 steps. (ACE)

15. Thomas Jefferson, who lived to be 83 when life expectancy was 40, walked four miles a day. (ACE)

16. One study found that walking regularly – three times or more every week for at least half an hour) saved $330 annually in health care costs. (UC San Diego Health)

17. A typical pair of athletic shoes will last for approximately 500 miles of walking. (ACE)

18. The longest uninterrupted walk was 19,019 miles from the southern tip of South America to the northern most part of Alaska and took 2,425 days. (ACE)

19. The risk of exercise-related injuries is 1 to 5 percent for walkers compared to 20 to 70 percent for runners. (ACE)

20. It would take a person walking nonstop at a 3-mph pace approximately 347 days to walk around the world. (ACE)

21. You use an estimated 200 muscles during walking. (ACE)

22. In 1970, 66 percent of American children walked to school; today it’s 13 percent. (UC San Diego Health)

Health Benefits Of Walking Statistics

23. More than 145 million adults now include walking as part of a physically active lifestyle. (CDC)

24. Walking can help lower the risk for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and some cancers. (CDC) 

25. Adding 150 minutes of walking in a week can add 3.4 years to a person’s lifespan. (Everyday Health)

26. Women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week. (Harvard) 

27. CDC recommends walking 7,000 to 8,000 steps every day for significant health benefits. (Humana) 

28. Walking can boost creativity by up to 60%. (ACE)

29. Research has found that a 15-minute walk reduces sweet cravings. (Harvard) 

30. Regular walking will save you up to $330 a year in health care costs. (Gaiam) 

31. People who walked at least 2 hours every week had a 39% lower all-cause mortality rate. (JAMA Network) 

32. People who walked at least 20 minutes, five days a week had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. (Harvard) 

33. Listening to music while walking has been observed to improve mood, motivation and performance. (ACE)

34. Breaking a workout into smaller chunks of time during the day has the same benefits as one long workout. (CDC) 

35. Walking on an incline burns 70% more calories. (Iowa Heart Center) 

36. Taking less than 5000 steps a day is considered a sedentary lifestyle. (Incent Fit)

37. Interval walkers lost six times more weight than walkers who maintained a steady pace, according to a Danish study. (ACE)

38. Walking just 21 minutes a day can cut your risk of heart disease by 30 percent. (ACE)

39. Women who walk at least 90 minutes per week have significantly better cognitive function than women who walk less than 40 minutes per week. The mortality rate among retired men who walk less than one mile per day is almost twice that of retired men who walk more than two miles per day. (UC San Diego Health)

40. Walking is good medicine. It can help you reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer. (ACE)

41. Less than 50% of American adults exercise enough to gain significant health or benefits. Inactivity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., second only to tobacco use. (CDC)

42. Walking uphill activates three times more muscle fibers than walking on flat terrain. It also burns up to 60 percent more calories. (ACE)

43. Brisk walking can improve your focus and sharpen your reaction times. (Harvard)

44. Experts suggest walking at least 6,000 steps a day to improve health; 10,000 a day to lose weight. (UC San Diego Health)

45. Mortality rates among retired men who walked less than one mile per day were almost twice as much as those who walked more than 2 miles per day. (NCBI)

46. Walking helps prevent osteoporosis. Research shows that postmenopausal women who walk around one mile per day each day have higher whole-body bone density than women who walk less. (NCBI)

47. Walking reduces the risk of both breast and colon cancer. (Cancer.Org)

Mental Health Benefits Of Walking Statistics

48. Regular exercise has been shown to combat the onset and advancement of Alzheimer’s and dementia. (Everyday Health) 

49. Walking improves mental well-being; physically active people have a 30% reduced risk of becoming depressed. (Walking For Health)  

50. Walking is good medicine. It can help elevate your mood and enhance mental well-being. (ACE)

51. A study of 1.2 million people in the USA has found that people who exercise report having 1.5 fewer days of poor mental health a month, compared to people who do not exercise. (Science Daily)

52. Exercising for 30-60 minutes was associated with the biggest reduction in poor mental health days (associated with around 2.1 fewer days of poor mental health compared with people who did not exercise). (Science Daily)

53. 23 clinical trials tested the effectiveness of exercise in treating depression. Exercise was clearly effective and, in a few studies, on par with antidepressant drugs, the researchers concluded. (Science Direct)

54. Exercise (like walking) can improve mood almost immediately, making it a valuable supplement to front-line treatments such as drugs or therapy. (Penn State College of Medicine)

55. Exercise (like walking) also seems to help in treating or avoiding anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and possibly other serious psychotic conditions, as well. (Science Direct)

56. Regular workouts also give exercisers a clear sense of progress as their strength and fitness improves. This sense of accomplishment can help offset some of the burden of anxiety and depression. (The Washington Post)

57. Walking outside can help to mitigate the symptoms of seasonal depression by increasing exposure to sunlight and vitamin D. (NHS)

Walking Statistics By Location

58. The United States walks the least of any industrialized nation. The average Australian takes 9, 695 steps per day (just a few short of the ideal 10,000), the average Japanese takes 7,168; the average Swiss: 9,650; and the average American just 5,117. (UC San Diego Health)

59. Australians walk the most with an average of over 9,000 steps per day, Americans walk the least out of the countries surveyed with an average of just over 5,000 steps. (Verywellfit)