Running one mile burns roughly 80 to 140 calories for most people, with body weight being the single biggest factor. The often-cited “100 calories per mile” rule is a reasonable middle estimate, but it can be off by 30% or more depending on how much you weigh.
Why Body Weight Matters Most
Moving a heavier body over the same distance requires more energy. A 130-pound runner will burn closer to 80 calories per mile, while a 200-pound runner covers the same ground for around 130 calories. The relationship is nearly linear: for every 10 extra pounds of body weight, expect roughly 5 to 7 more calories burned per mile.
You can estimate your own burn using a simple formula. Multiply your weight in kilograms by the MET value for your pace, then multiply by the time in hours it takes you to finish the mile. The result is calories per mile. MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task, and researchers at the Compendium of Physical Activities maintain standardized values for every common running speed. A 10-minute mile pace carries a MET of 9.3, while a fast 7-minute mile jumps to 12.5.
Here’s what that looks like in practice for a 10-minute mile (MET 9.3):
- 130 lbs (59 kg): ~91 calories
- 155 lbs (70 kg): ~109 calories
- 180 lbs (82 kg): ~127 calories
- 210 lbs (95 kg): ~147 calories
Does Running Faster Burn More Calories?
This is where things get counterintuitive. Classic research in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that the net energy cost of running per kilometer is roughly the same regardless of speed. In other words, running a mile in 7 minutes and running it in 12 minutes burn similar total calories for the same person. What changes is calories per minute: faster running torches more energy per minute, but you’re also done sooner, so the totals nearly cancel out.
That said, the MET values do creep upward at very high speeds. A 12-minute mile pace has a MET of 8.5, while a 6-minute mile pace hits 14.8. Part of this increase reflects the growing biomechanical cost of pushing your body at near-sprint intensities, where efficiency drops and more energy goes into vertical bounce, arm swing, and wind resistance. For casual to moderate runners, though, the difference in total calories per mile across paces is surprisingly small, usually 10 to 15%.
Running Burns More Than Walking the Same Mile
A common question is whether you could just walk a mile and get the same calorie burn. You can’t. Research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise measured both activities at 1,600 meters and found that running required about 30% more total energy than walking the same distance, regardless of gender. When resting energy expenditure was stripped out, the locomotion cost of walking was roughly 50 to 55% lower than running.
The reason is mechanical. Walking lets you vault over a relatively stiff leg, recycling energy like an inverted pendulum. Running involves a flight phase where both feet leave the ground, demanding more muscle force to absorb impact and push off again. That extra work adds up to a meaningfully higher calorie cost even though you end up at the same spot.
Treadmill vs. Outdoor Running
Running on a treadmill burns slightly fewer calories than covering the same mile outdoors. The belt moves beneath you, reducing the friction your legs need to overcome and eliminating wind resistance entirely. Research shows that setting the treadmill to a 1 to 2% incline compensates for these differences and brings the energy cost in line with flat outdoor running. If your treadmill is set at 0% incline, your actual calorie burn is modestly lower than what most calculators report.
The Afterburn Effect
Your body continues burning extra calories after you stop running, a phenomenon called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. For a single mile at moderate effort, this bonus is modest. Cleveland Clinic cites research showing the afterburn adds 6 to 15% on top of the calories used during the workout itself. If your mile burned 110 calories, you might get an extra 7 to 17 calories afterward as your body restores oxygen levels, clears metabolic byproducts, and returns to its resting state. Intensity matters here: a hard sprint mile will trigger more afterburn than a comfortable jog, though for a single mile the total bonus stays relatively small.
Quick Reference by Pace and Weight
The table below uses 2024 Compendium MET values to estimate total calories for one mile. These are gross calories, meaning they include what your body would burn at rest during that same time period.
- 12-min mile (5 mph), 150 lbs: ~96 calories
- 10-min mile (6 mph), 150 lbs: ~106 calories
- 8-min mile (7.5 mph), 150 lbs: ~113 calories
- 12-min mile (5 mph), 180 lbs: ~116 calories
- 10-min mile (6 mph), 180 lbs: ~127 calories
- 8-min mile (7.5 mph), 180 lbs: ~135 calories
Notice that jumping from a 12-minute to an 8-minute mile at the same weight adds only about 17 to 19 calories. Gaining (or carrying) an extra 30 pounds of body weight makes a bigger difference than running two minutes faster.
What Calorie Trackers Get Wrong
Most fitness watches and treadmill displays use generalized MET formulas that assume an average body composition. They don’t account for running economy, which varies significantly between trained and untrained runners. An experienced runner with efficient form may burn 5 to 10% fewer calories per mile than a beginner of the same weight, because less energy is wasted on excess vertical movement and side-to-side sway. Watches that incorporate heart rate data get closer to your true expenditure, but even those carry a margin of error around 10 to 20%. Treat any single-mile calorie estimate as a useful ballpark, not a precise measurement.