KM to Miles Converter
Convert kilometers to miles (km to mi) for running, driving and travel
1 kilometer = 0.621371 miles. To convert km to miles, divide the kilometers by 1.609344, the exact number of km in a mile.
Kilometers to Miles converter
Live- 0.5399568 nmi
- 1,000 m
- 1,093.6133 yd
- 3,280.8399 ft
- 39,370.079 in
How to convert kilometers to miles
A statute mile is defined as exactly 1,609.344 meters, which is 5,280 international feet of 0.3048 m. A kilometer is 1,000 m. Dividing kilometers by 1.609344 therefore gives exact miles, and multiplying by 0.621371 gives the same answer to six significant figures. Miles to km is the same factor used the other way (multiply by 1.609344), and the length converter runs it alongside yards, feet and nautical miles.
Watch out for the nautical mile. Ships and aircraft use a nautical mile of 1,852 m, which is 1.15078 statute miles. A distance on a marine chart is not the same as a road distance, and knots are nautical miles per hour; the knots to mph converter handles that.
How precise should the answer be? For road trips, whole miles are enough: 250 km is about 155 mi. For running and cycling, two decimals matter because race distances are certified to the meter, which is why a 10K is often quoted as 6.21 mi rather than 6.2 mi.
Step by step
- Take the distance in kilometers.
- Divide by 1.609344 (or multiply by 0.621371).
- Round to one or two decimals for running and driving distances.
See it on a scale
Worked examples
A 5K park run, a full marathon of 42.195 km and a 100 km road trip or ultra.
5 km ÷ 1.609344 = 3.106856 mi
= 3.106856 mi
42.195 km ÷ 1.609344 = 26.218757 mi
= 26.218757 mi
100 km ÷ 1.609344 = 62.137119 mi
= 62.137119 mi
How do I convert km to miles in Excel or Google Sheets?
With kilometers in A2, the formula =A2/1.609344 returns exact miles; for the reverse, =A2*1.609344 turns miles into kilometers.
- Named units in Excel:
=CONVERT(A2,"km","mi")gives the same statute miles, and swapping "mi" for "Nmi" returns nautical miles. - Rounded for a training log:
=ROUND(A2/1.609344,2)shows 42.195 km as 26.22 mi. - Pace per km to pace per mile: enter the pace as a time, such as 0:05:00, and use
=A2*1.609344; with the cell formatted as mm:ss.0, a 5:00 pace per km becomes 08:02.8 per mile.
Spreadsheets store times as fractions of a day, which is why a pace can be multiplied like any other number; only the cell format decides whether you see 0.00559 or a clock-style split. For speed rather than distance, the speed converter applies the same factor to km/h and mph.
What is a metric mile?
A metric mile is the 1,500 m race, which is 0.9321 miles, about 109.3 m (120 yd) short of a true mile.
The nickname comes from track running. The 1,500 m is the Olympic middle-distance event that most of the world races instead of the mile, and its length is a tidy metric figure in the same range. US high school track usually runs 1,600 m instead, only 9.344 m (30.7 ft) short of a mile, and 3,200 m in place of two miles.
| Distance | Kilometers | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| 1,500 m (metric mile) | 1.5 km | 0.9321 mi |
| 1,600 m | 1.6 km | 0.9942 mi |
| 1 mile | 1.609344 km | 1 mi |
| 3,200 m | 3.2 km | 1.9884 mi |
| 2 miles | 3.218688 km | 2 mi |
The mile itself has not disappeared: it is the only non-metric distance for which World Athletics still ratifies world records, so elite runners race both lengths.
KM to miles conversion chart
Kilometer distances people convert most, from short runs to long drives, rounded to four decimal places.
| Kilometers (km) | Miles (mi) |
|---|---|
| 1 km | 0.6214 mi |
| 2 km | 1.2427 mi |
| 3 km | 1.8641 mi |
| 5 km | 3.1069 mi |
| 8 km | 4.971 mi |
| 10 km | 6.2137 mi |
| 15 km | 9.3206 mi |
| 16 km | 9.9419 mi |
| 20 km | 12.4274 mi |
| 21.0975 km | 13.1094 mi |
| 25 km | 15.5343 mi |
| 30 km | 18.6411 mi |
| 40 km | 24.8548 mi |
| 42.195 km | 26.2188 mi |
| 50 km | 31.0686 mi |
| 60 km | 37.2823 mi |
| 70 km | 43.496 mi |
| 80 km | 49.7097 mi |
| 90 km | 55.9234 mi |
| 100 km | 62.1371 mi |
| 120 km | 74.5645 mi |
| 150 km | 93.2057 mi |
| 200 km | 124.2742 mi |
| 250 km | 155.3428 mi |
| 300 km | 186.4114 mi |
| 400 km | 248.5485 mi |
| 500 km | 310.6856 mi |
| 1,000 km | 621.3712 mi |
Kilometers vs miles: what is the difference?
Both measure long distances, but the kilometer is a decimal multiple of the SI meter while the statute mile is a customary unit built from feet.
| Attribute | Kilometers | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol | km | mi |
| System | Metric | Imperial / US |
| Defined as | 1,000 m | 1,609.344 m (5,280 ft) |
| One unit equals | 0.62137119 mi | 1.609344 km |
| What it measures | Distance: 1,000 meters | Distance: 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards |
| Road signs | Nearly every country, including Canada and Australia | United States and United Kingdom |
| Speed unit built on it | km/h | mph |
| Race distances | 5K, 10K, half marathon (21.0975 km), marathon (42.195 km) | The mile run, still a World Athletics record event |
| Common confusion | Kilometers vs square kilometers in land areas | Statute mile vs nautical mile (1,852 m) |
4 key differences
- A mile is exactly 1.609344 km, so any distance written in miles is about 37.9% smaller than the same distance in kilometers.
- The kilometer divides decimally into 1,000 meters, while the mile divides into 8 furlongs, 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet.
- Speed limits follow the distance unit: 100 km/h is 62.14 mph, and 70 mph is 112.65 km/h.
- The nautical mile of 1,852 m is longer than both: 1.852 km or 1.15078 statute miles.
Running race distances in miles
Road races worldwide are measured in kilometers, even in the US. The half marathon and marathon are fixed at 21.0975 km and 42.195 km.
| Race | Kilometers | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| 5K | 5 km | 3.107 mi |
| 10K | 10 km | 6.214 mi |
| 15K | 15 km | 9.321 mi |
| Half marathon | 21.0975 km | 13.109 mi |
| 25K | 25 km | 15.534 mi |
| 30K | 30 km | 18.641 mi |
| Marathon | 42.195 km | 26.219 mi |
| 50K ultra | 50 km | 31.069 mi |
| 100K ultra | 100 km | 62.137 mi |
Running pace: minutes per km to minutes per mile
Watches and apps in metric countries show pace per kilometer. Multiply the pace by 1.609344 to get pace per mile, because a mile takes 1.609344 times as long to cover.
| Pace per km | Pace per mile | Speed (km/h) | Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:00 /km | 6:26 /mi | 15 km/h | 9.32 mph |
| 4:15 /km | 6:50 /mi | 14.12 km/h | 8.77 mph |
| 4:30 /km | 7:15 /mi | 13.33 km/h | 8.28 mph |
| 4:45 /km | 7:39 /mi | 12.63 km/h | 7.85 mph |
| 5:00 /km | 8:03 /mi | 12 km/h | 7.46 mph |
| 5:15 /km | 8:27 /mi | 11.43 km/h | 7.1 mph |
| 5:30 /km | 8:51 /mi | 10.91 km/h | 6.78 mph |
| 5:45 /km | 9:15 /mi | 10.43 km/h | 6.48 mph |
| 6:00 /km | 9:39 /mi | 10 km/h | 6.21 mph |
| 6:15 /km | 10:04 /mi | 9.6 km/h | 5.97 mph |
| 6:30 /km | 10:28 /mi | 9.23 km/h | 5.74 mph |
| 6:45 /km | 10:52 /mi | 8.89 km/h | 5.52 mph |
| 7:00 /km | 11:16 /mi | 8.57 km/h | 5.33 mph |
| 7:15 /km | 11:40 /mi | 8.28 km/h | 5.14 mph |
The Fibonacci trick for km to miles
Consecutive Fibonacci numbers have a ratio close to 1.618, very near the 1.609 km in a mile. Take a Fibonacci number of kilometers and the previous one is roughly the miles. The error column shows how far the trick lands from the exact value.
| Kilometers | Fibonacci estimate | Exact miles | Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 km | 3 mi | 3.11 mi | −3.4% |
| 8 km | 5 mi | 4.97 mi | 0.6% |
| 13 km | 8 mi | 8.08 mi | −1% |
| 21 km | 13 mi | 13.05 mi | −0.4% |
| 34 km | 21 mi | 21.13 mi | −0.6% |
| 55 km | 34 mi | 34.18 mi | −0.5% |
| 89 km | 55 mi | 55.3 mi | −0.5% |
What is the easiest way to convert km to miles in your head?
Multiply by 5/8. The answer comes out only 0.6% high, close enough for any road sign or race, and the variations below trade speed for accuracy.
- Multiply by 5/8. Halve, halve again and halve once more (÷ 8), then multiply by 5. 5/8 = 0.625, about 0.6% above the exact factor. 80 km: 80 ÷ 8 × 5 = 50 mi (exact: 49.71 mi).
- Multiply by 0.6, then add 3.5%. 0.6 × 1.035 = 0.621, almost exactly the true factor. For 100 km, 60 + 2.1 = 62.1 mi (exact: 62.14).
- Speed signs use the same factor. 100 km/h is 62.14 mph and 50 km/h is 31.07 mph; see the km/h to mph converter.
When the conversion matters
Driving in Canada, Europe or Australia means road signs and odometers in kilometers, and car fuel economy in liters per 100 km. To compare with US figures, the L/100 km to mpg converter does the math. For running, pace per kilometer divided by 0.621371 gives pace per mile: 5:00 per km is about 8:03 per mile.
What is a kilometer, and what is a mile?
A kilometer is 1,000 meters. It was introduced with the metric system in France in the 1790s and is now the standard unit for road distances in almost every country. Road signs in the United Kingdom and the United States are the main exceptions.
The mile goes back to the Roman mille passus, a thousand double paces. The English statute mile was fixed by an Act of Parliament in 1593 at 8 furlongs, or 5,280 feet, and the 1959 international foot made it exactly 1,609.344 m. So one mile is a little over 1.6 km, and one kilometer is a little over six tenths of a mile.
Sources and further reading
The standards and references behind the numbers on this page. Links open in a new tab.
Standards and official sources
KM to miles FAQs
Short, exact answers to what people ask most.
How many miles is 1 km?
One kilometer is about 0.621371 miles, a little more than six tenths of a mile.
How many km is a mile?
One mile is exactly 1.609344 kilometers, by definition.
How many miles is a 5K?
A 5K race is 5 kilometers, which is 3.107 miles, usually quoted as 3.1 miles.
How many miles is a 10K?
A 10K is 6.214 miles, roughly 6.2 miles.
How many miles is a marathon?
A marathon is 42.195 km, which is 26.219 miles, commonly written as 26.2 miles.
Is a kilometer longer than a mile?
No. A mile is about 1.6 times longer than a kilometer, so any distance is a smaller number in miles than in kilometers.
How many miles is a half marathon?
A half marathon is 21.0975 km, which is 13.1094 miles, usually quoted as 13.1 miles.
How many miles is 50 km?
50 km is 31.0686 miles, the distance of a standard 50K ultramarathon.
How far is 1,000 km in miles?
1,000 km is 621.371 miles.
What is 3 km in miles?
3 km is 1.8641 miles, a little under 2 miles.
Related conversions
Mile and nautical mile definitions from NIST Special Publication 811 and NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C; race distances and record events from World Athletics rules; US high school race distances from NFHS track and field rules; spreadsheet functions from Microsoft Excel documentation. Last updated . How we verify our numbers.