Average Speed Calculator

Q: Do rest stops and traffic lights count in average speed?

Yes. Average speed uses the total time from start to finish, including stops, red lights, and breaks. If you drove 100 km in 2 hours but sat in traffic for 30 minutes, you still divide 100 km by 2 hours to get 50 km/h. If you want to leave stops out, only enter the time you were actually moving. That gives you your moving average speed instead.

Q: How many segments can I add?

Up to 10. Press Add Segment for another leg and Remove to delete one. You always need at least one segment. If you have more than 10 legs, group short ones together by adding their distances and times before you type them in.

Updated Sep 1, 2026 By Jehan Wadia

Introduction

The Average Speed Calculator tells you how fast you moved over a whole trip. Type in the distance you went and the time it took, and it gives you the answer right away in miles per hour, kilometers per hour, meters per second, knots, and feet per second.

Average speed is simple: total distance divided by total time. If you drive 150 km in 2 hours and 30 minutes, your average speed is 60 km/h. It does not matter if you sped up, slowed down, or stopped for gas. The math only looks at how far you went and how long it took.

This tool can also solve two other problems. Pick Solve for Distance to find how far you travel at a set speed for a set time. Pick Solve for Time to find how long a trip will take at a set speed.

Runners, cyclists, and swimmers get pace too, shown as minutes per kilometer and minutes per mile. If your trip had many parts, turn on multi-segment mode. Add each leg with its own distance and time, and the calculator adds them all up to find your true average speed. You also get step-by-step math and a chart, so you can see how the answer was found.

How to Use Our Average Speed Calculator

Pick what you want to find, type in the numbers you know, and the calculator gives you the answer in five units, plus your pace per kilometer and per mile, a step-by-step solution, and a chart.

What do you want to solve for? Tap "Solve for Speed" to find average speed from distance and time. Tap "Solve for Distance" to find how far you went from speed and time. Tap "Solve for Time" to find how long a trip takes from distance and speed. The boxes you need will show up on their own.

Distance: Type how far you traveled, then pick the unit next to it: miles, kilometers, meters, yards, or feet.

Speed: Type your speed, then pick the unit: mph, km/h, m/s, knots, or ft/s.

Time (total elapsed): Type the hours, minutes, and seconds of your trip in the three boxes. Use whole numbers, and put 0 in any box you don't need. Minutes and seconds must be 0 to 59, so 90 minutes goes in as 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Multi-segment journey: Turn this switch on if your trip had more than one leg. Give each leg its own distance and time, and the calculator adds up all the distance and all the time to find your true average speed. Use "Add Segment" for more legs (up to 10) or "Remove" to delete one.

Update results as I type: Leave this on to see answers change while you type. Turn it off and press "Calculate" when you are ready. Press "Reset" to go back to the sample numbers.

What Is Average Speed?

Average speed tells you how fast something moved over a whole trip. You find it by taking the total distance and dividing it by the total time. It does not care about the fast parts, the slow parts, or the stops. It only cares about how far you went and how long it took.

The formula is simple:

Average speed = total distance ÷ total time

If you drive 150 km in 2 hours and 30 minutes, your average speed is 150 ÷ 2.5 = 60 km/h. You may have driven 100 km/h on the highway and 0 km/h at a red light, but the average for the whole trip is still 60 km/h.

The Three Parts of the Formula

Speed, distance, and time are linked. If you know two of them, you can always find the third:

Speed = distance ÷ time
Distance = speed × time
Time = distance ÷ speed

Common Speed Units

Speed always mixes a distance unit with a time unit. These are the ones people use most:

km/h: kilometers per hour, used for cars in most countries
mph: miles per hour, used in the US and UK
m/s: meters per second, the science (SI) unit
knots: nautical miles per hour, used for boats and planes
ft/s: feet per second

Handy facts: 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h, and 1 mile = 1.609344 km. To change km/h into m/s, divide by 3.6.

Average Speed Is Not Speed at One Moment

The number on a car's speedometer is instantaneous speed, or how fast you are going right now. Average speed covers the entire trip, including slow traffic and breaks. That is why your average speed on a long drive is almost always lower than the top speed you hit. When speed keeps changing, the Acceleration Calculator shows how quickly it changes.

Speed vs. Velocity

Speed only says how fast. Velocity says how fast and in what direction. If you run one lap and finish where you started, your average speed is high, but your average velocity is zero, because you ended up in the same spot.

Why You Can't Just Average Two Speeds

This trips people up. If you drive 60 km at 60 km/h and then 60 km at 20 km/h, the answer is not 40 km/h. The first part takes 1 hour and the second takes 3 hours. So you went 120 km in 4 hours, which is 30 km/h. You must always add the real distances and the real times first. That is why breaking a trip into segments gives the correct answer.

Pace: Speed Flipped Around

Runners, cyclists, and swimmers often use pace instead of speed. Pace is the time it takes to cover one unit of distance, like 5:00 min/km or 8:03 min/mile. A lower pace means you are moving faster. Pace and speed hold the same information, just upside down.

Where People Use Average Speed

Guessing how long a road trip or flight will take
Checking a race time or training run
Physics and math homework on motion, including momentum, kinetic energy, and projectile motion problems
Planning delivery routes and travel schedules
Comparing bus, bike, and walking times for a commute
Working out fuel use for a drive

Formulas used

Average speed from distance and time

v = \frac{d}{t}

Distance from speed and time

d = v \times t

Time from distance and speed

t = \frac{d}{v}

Elapsed time converted to seconds

t = (h \times 3600) + (m \times 60) + s

Unit conversion to SI (meters, m/s) and back

x_{SI} = x_{unit} \times k_{unit}, \qquad x_{unit} = \frac{x_{SI}}{k_{unit}}

Average speed over multiple segments

v_{avg} = \frac{d_{total}}{t_{total}} = \frac{\sum_{i=1}^{n} d_i}{\sum_{i=1}^{n} t_i}

Pace per kilometer and per mile

\text{pace}_{km} = \frac{1000}{v}, \qquad \text{pace}_{mi} = \frac{1609.344}{v}

Splitting total seconds into hours, minutes, seconds

h = \left\lfloor \frac{t}{3600} \right\rfloor, \quad m = \left\lfloor \frac{t - 3600h}{60} \right\rfloor, \quad s = t - 3600h - 60m

Frequently asked questions

Do rest stops and traffic lights count in average speed?

Yes. Average speed uses the total time from start to finish, including stops, red lights, and breaks. If you drove 100 km in 2 hours but sat in traffic for 30 minutes, you still divide 100 km by 2 hours to get 50 km/h.

If you want to leave stops out, only enter the time you were actually moving. That gives you your moving average speed instead.

When should I use multi-segment mode?

Use it when your trip had parts with different speeds and you know the distance and time of each part. Good examples:

A road trip with city driving and highway driving
A triathlon with swim, bike, and run legs
A delivery route with several stops

The calculator adds all distances and all times, then divides. That is the only correct way to average speeds.

How many segments can I add?

Up to 10. Press Add Segment for another leg and Remove to delete one. You always need at least one segment.

If you have more than 10 legs, group short ones together by adding their distances and times before you type them in.

Can each segment use a different distance unit?

Yes. One leg can be in miles and the next in kilometers. Each segment has its own unit menu.

The total shown in the results uses the unit from the first segment.

What does the pace number mean?

Pace is the time it takes to cover one kilometer or one mile. It shows as minutes:seconds, like 5:30 min/km.

A smaller pace number means you are faster. Runners, cyclists, and swimmers usually track pace instead of speed.

What is a knot and when would I use it?

A knot is one nautical mile per hour, about 1.852 km/h or 1.15 mph. Boats and planes use it.

The calculator always shows knots along with the other speed units, so you do not need to convert by hand.

Is average speed the same as the number on my speedometer?

No. A speedometer shows your speed right at that moment. Average speed covers your whole trip, stops and all.

Your average is almost always lower than your top speed.

How do I find my average speed if I only know start and end clock times?

Work out the gap between the two times first, then type it into the hours, minutes, and seconds boxes.

Example: 9:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. is 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Why is my answer 0?

A distance of 0 gives a speed of 0. Check that you typed a real distance and that the unit is right. Typing 5 with meters selected when you meant kilometers will give a very small answer, not zero, but it is a common mix-up.

How do I convert km/h to m/s myself?

Divide by 3.6. So 90 km/h ÷ 3.6 = 25 m/s. To go the other way, multiply m/s by 3.6.

The calculator does this for you and shows both units at once.

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