What’s the Average Mile Time? The Numbers for Runners and Walkers

There’s no large dataset of mile races, because so few people race one. What exists instead is data on how fast people run day to day and how fast they race longer distances, and together they give a good picture of the typical mile. The average run logged on Strava in the U.S. in 2021 worked out to 9:35 per mile, and the median 5K finisher in 2024 averaged 11:35 per mile. This is what those numbers mean for your mile, what counts as a good time at your age, and how long it takes to walk one.

The average mile time

Everyday runs. Strava’s 2021 Year in Sport report put the average U.S. run at 3.7 miles in 35:29 (Tom’s Guide), which works out to 9:35 per mile. Men averaged 4.0 miles in 35:22 and women 3.4 miles in 35:52, or about 8:50 and 10:33 per mile. Worldwide, the average run was 3.9 miles in 38:48, closer to 10 minutes per mile (Strava).

Race pace. Race medians come out slower than that. The 5K is the race most people run, and its field is the broadest in the sport. Across 2.2 million U.S. 5K results in 2024, the median finisher averaged 11:35 per mile, with men at 10:18 and women at 12:33 (Outside). The 5K averages break that field down by age.

An all-out mile. A mile raced flat out is faster than 5K pace. Run through Jack Daniels’ VDOT formula, the median 5K of 36:00 is worth a mile of about 10:51, the men’s median of 32:00 about 9:35 and the women’s 39:00 about 11:47. The same math works age group by age group.

Treat those as estimates. They assume the runner is as ready for a mile as for a 5K, and Daniels’ published tables start at a VDOT of 30, which most of these medians fall below. The VDOT calculator does the same conversion for your own times.

What’s a good mile time?

Round numbers. A 10-minute mile is 6.0 miles per hour, an 8-minute mile is 7.5 and a 6-minute mile is 10.0, and the treadmill pace chart converts every speed in between. By the same VDOT math, an 8:00 mile is worth about a 26:56 5K, faster than the median 5K for every age group in the 2024 data except boys 15 to 18. A 7:00 mile is worth about 23:44, inside the fastest 10 percent of 5K finishers (RunRepeat), and a 6:00 mile about 20:29, close to the 20-minute line that only 1.85 percent of 2024 finishers broke.

Age grading. Age grading compares your time with the standard for your age and sex and turns it into a percentage. World Masters Athletics calls 60 percent local class, 70 regional class, 80 national class and 90 world class (World Masters Athletics). The 2025 road standards approved by USA Track & Field’s masters long-distance council include the road mile, and 60 percent works out to these times (Age-Grade Tables).

Those are well ahead of the median finisher, because the scale measures you against the fastest runners on record at your age rather than against the field. It also lets you compare a mile at 55 with one you ran at 30.

How long does it take to walk a mile?

Most healthy adults walk a mile in about 19 to 28 minutes at their normal pace. A meta-analysis of 41 studies covering 23,111 people found average walking speeds ranging from 1.43 meters per second for men in their 40s, about 18:42 per mile, to 0.94 for women over 80, about 28:27 (Bohannon and Williams Andrews, 2011).

The CDC counts walking at 2.5 miles per hour or faster, which is 24 minutes per mile or less, as brisk, moderate-intensity activity, and jogging or running as vigorous (CDC). At 3 miles per hour, a mile takes 20 minutes. If you’re mixing walking and running to build toward a continuous mile, the start running guide covers the first weeks.

The world records

Josh Kerr of Britain ran 3:42.66 at the London Diamond League on July 18, 2026 (Al Jazeera), breaking the 3:43.13 that Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco ran in Rome on July 7, 1999 (World Athletics). That’s an average of about 16.2 miles per hour. Faith Kipyegon of Kenya holds the women’s record, 4:07.64 in Monaco on July 21, 2023 (Wikipedia).

The four-minute barrier fell 72 years before Kerr’s run, when Roger Bannister ran 3:59.4 in Oxford on May 6, 1954 (World Athletics).

What’s a good mile time for you

The best way to find out is to run one. A track is the simplest place to do it: four laps of lane one on a standard 400-meter track is 1,600 meters, about 9 meters short of a full mile. Put the time into the VDOT calculator for training paces and what the same fitness points to at 5K and beyond, or into the race time predictor for a straight conversion to any longer race.

Whatever you run the first time is your baseline, and the second test is where you start measuring progress. The Easy Run Decoded covers why most of your running should be easy, and the 10K averages are there when you’re ready to see how a longer race compares.

FAQ

Is a 10-minute mile good?

For a recreational runner, yes. It’s a little slower than the average U.S. run on Strava in 2021 (9:35 per mile), and faster than the all-out mile the median 5K finisher would be expected to run, about 10:51. It’s 6.0 miles per hour.

What is the average mile time for men?

About 8:50 per mile on an average U.S. run logged on Strava in 2021. In a race, the median men’s 5K pace in 2024 was 10:18 per mile, and the men’s median 5K points to an all-out mile of about 9:35.

What is the average mile time for women?

About 10:33 per mile on an average Strava run in 2021, and 12:33 per mile at the 2024 median women’s 5K pace. The women’s median 5K points to an all-out mile of about 11:47.

How long does it take to walk a mile?

About 19 to 28 minutes at a normal pace, depending on age and sex, and 24 minutes or less at a brisk pace of 2.5 miles per hour or faster.

How fast is a 7-minute mile?

8.57 miles per hour, or 4:21 per kilometer. By Daniels’ formula it’s worth about a 23:44 5K.

What is the fastest mile ever run?

3:42.66, by Josh Kerr at the London Diamond League on July 18, 2026. The women’s record is Faith Kipyegon’s 4:07.64 from 2023.