On average, how much calories does a person burn if they walk with a moderate pace for an hour?

This can be affected by various factors—such as the firmness of the surface you are walking on, your body weight, and the relative steepness of your path—but the average is around 200 – 250 calories per hour in practice (especially given that most people tend to overestimate their activity when comparing it against charts).

A 180 lb person walking a moderate rate of 3 mph will burn about 270 calories.

There’s a table here which shows calories burned at different paces and weight of the person.

Depends on pace and your weight. See table here.

My guess is about 180. Even at the gym while on the eliptical trainer for 25 min at a tension setting of 8 at a brisk pace which would be equivalent to jogging uphill I only burn 160 calories.

If you can walk at a very brisk pace (at least 4 mph), you can do fairly well. But, you really do need to watch the clock and measure your distance; most people don’t walk nearly as far or as quickly as they believe.

A treadmill’s a whole other matter; the calorie burn is much lower. Even though you can get a good workout on a treadmill, it’s not as efficient as truly walking.

Depends on what you mean by “moderate.”

A treadmill’s a whole other matter; the calorie burn is much lower. Even though you can get a good workout on a treadmill, it’s not as efficient as truly walking.

This is only true if you’re using a treadmill with no incline. The reason walking outdoors burns more calories in general is because of the changes in the surface you’re walking on, uphill and downhill, and wind resistance that cause you to burn more calories without even knowing it. According to research, you can resolve this issue by using a slight incline on the treadmill – just 1 degree will do it. Also, holding onto the bar while walking on a treadmill decreases calories burned, so it’s best not to hold on. The upside of a treadmill is that you know exactly what your pace and time is – no guessing!

In fact, the MyFitnessPal app does not have a “treadmill” option, just walking. When I input my pace and time, it gives me the same amount of calories that the treadmill displays. Now, the “calories burned” that shows on the treadmill is an estimation, but the caloric burn certainly isn’t “much less” on the treadmill than walking outside. Walking is walking.

I usually try for measurements that are applicable to real world situations.

For me, it is one (1) Sam Adams Ale per 45 minutes of walking. Or 4.5 hours a six-pack.

Of course I could drink a six-pack of BudLight after just 2.25 hours but why bother.

@livelaughlove. “This is only true if you’re using a treadmill with no incline.”

That’s not entirely correct. It’s certainly true that an incline will give you a more challenging and effective workout. But, it’s still not as good as walking outside.

—Even with an incline, the moving tread does some of the work for you. You don’t get an equal push off the backs of your heels.

—A treadmill has no downhill! You use different muscles to go uphill vs. downhill, and it’s preferable to train and build both sets of muscles.

—Holding onto a treadmill’s handrails, which many people don’t realize they may do as they become tired or distracted, will reduce the calories burned.

—There’s no wind resistance indoors.

—Walking outside challenges balance and stability—going up and down curbs, handling steps, tackling sloped sidewalks and roads, dodging people and puddles, etc. It’s effective to move side-to-side or around things as well as forward.

Here’s a little calculator
You can put in your weight and it will calculate about how many calories you will burn walking.

@SadieMartinPaul I’ll give you the downhill thing, though a step machine would take care of that and then some. The rest of your points I already covered and, according to research, the incline makes up for the difference (when used correctly). As for balance and stability, the OP is asking about calories.

I believe that treadmills were made to enhance daily exercise but I don’t believe that they are here to take over our daily exercise routine. It is true that the incline of real outdoor walking up and down is great for your body.

But at the same time as long as you have your heart rate elevated then you are burning calories and improving your cardio which is great for the overall health so the rest is all just minor details, isn’t it though?

@Judi‘s little calculator gives me more than the table Iinked indicated. The table gives 270 for an hour of walking at 3 mph. The calculator gives 140 calories per mile, but at a 3 mph rate,that would be 420 calories in an hour.

I clock a calorie burn of about 500 in about 45 minutes at a moderately brisk pace. You can do the math for 60 minutes. Of course, your calorie burns it depends on your weight, stride length, and speed. If you have a smartphone, you can download any number of free apps that track your calorie rate, time, speed, etc.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room 500 calories?! The OP would have to weigh quite a lot to burn that much walking for 45 minutes.

I weigh 143 lbs and, Saturday at the gym, I did 10 mins on the elliptical (63 rpm), 10 minutes on stair machine, 10 minutes on the rowing machine, and 20 minutes walking 3.7–4 mph on 2–5 degree incline. I only burned 388 calories according to the machines and my fitness app. Walking for 45 minutes takes a lot less effort than most of what I did.

I’d guess anywhere from 180–250 calories are burned on a 3–3.5 mph walk for an hour, depending on weight.

For uphill walking there’s a nice formula:

WPOT = m · g · h

On earth g is 9.81m/s^2 and m is your mass and h is the height, heavy people do have an “advantage” here. Then you need to add the friction part which is much harder to calculate precisely. And you need to know that 1 joule = 0.24 calories.

I can only walk on the treadmill because of knee issues. (I am grateful for that in itself.) And setting it on an incline was what exacerbated the osteoarthritis in the first place.

So, yesterday I did my routine 45 minutes on the level at predominately 3.2 mph. with a few minutes at the start and finish for warm-up and cool-down. 189 calories extrapolates to 252 calories/ hour.

@livelovelaugh21, my guess is that a lot if people over estimate the calories they burn and underestimate the calories they eat. I love that there’s apps now to keep us honest.

@Judi Me too! I don’t know what I’d do without MyFitnessPal.