SnapCalorieBurn — free MET-based calorie calculators
How many calories does a 15-minute walk burn? See exact numbers by body weight, plus tips to maximize your short walk.
A 15-minute walk burns approximately 50–90 calories depending on your weight and pace.
Fifteen minutes is the minimum effective dose of walking for health benefits. It's roughly 1,500–2,000 steps — enough to meaningfully contribute to your daily movement goals without requiring a schedule change.
In the same 15 minutes, you could burn about 130–170 calories running, 70–100 calories cycling at a moderate pace, or just 20–25 calories sitting at your desk. Even a short walk delivers 3–4 times the calorie burn of sitting.
A 15-minute post-meal walk is one of the easiest habits to build. Walk after lunch at work, take a quick loop around your neighborhood after dinner, or park further from your destination. Three 15-minute walks per day equals 45 minutes of moderate activity — meeting WHO guidelines without a dedicated workout.
Direct answer: 15 minutes of walking burns an estimated 52–91 calories, depending on body weight (180 lb / 82 kg: ~72 kcal). Intensity assumed: Moderate (3 mph) (MET 3.5). This is an estimate, not a measurement.
| Body weight | Calories burned |
|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | ~52 cal |
| 155 lb (70 kg) | ~61 cal |
| 180 lb (82 kg) | ~72 cal |
| 205 lb (93 kg) | ~81 cal |
| 230 lb (104 kg) | ~91 cal |
Example: At MET 3.5, a 180 lb (82 kg) person doing 15 minutes of walking burns approximately 72 calories: 3.5 × 82 × 0.25 h ≈ 72 kcal.
There is no single universal calorie figure for this activity. At 180 lb (82 kg) and the same 15 minutes:
| Style / effort | MET | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Slow (under 2 mph) | 2 | ~41 cal |
| Brisk (3.5 mph) | 4.3 | ~88 cal |
| Fast (4 mph) | 5 | ~103 cal |
| Power walking (4.5+ mph) | 7 | ~144 cal |
An estimated 52–91 calories, depending on body weight. A 180 lb (82 kg) person burns about 72 kcal, calculated as MET 3.5 × 82 kg × 0.25 hours.
About 4.8 kcal per minute for a 180 lb (82 kg) person, or 0.9 kcal per kilogram of body weight across the whole session.
Because the MET formula scales directly with body mass: a 130 lb person burns about 52 kcal here versus 91 kcal for a 230 lb person — a 75% spread for the identical session.
From the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, the reference database of measured MET intensities for physical activities. Every figure on this page uses that value in the formula Calories = MET × body weight (kg) × duration (hours).
They are estimates from population averages, not measurements. Individual results commonly land within about ±15% of the figure shown; actual intensity and pace, body composition and fitness, terrain and technique all shift the real number. The values are gross calories, so they include the energy you would have burned at rest.
Open the walking calorie calculator to enter your own weight, intensity and duration.