How many feet are in a mile?
Quick answer
There are 5,280 feet in a mile. That’s the same as 1,760 yards or about 1.609 kilometers.
Why 5,280 and not a round 5,000? Blame a mix of Roman soldiers and English farmers.
Converter
Feet in common distances
| Distance | Feet |
|---|---|
| ¼ mile | 1,320 ft |
| ½ mile | 2,640 ft |
| 1 mile | 5,280 ft |
| 1 kilometer | about 3,281 ft |
| 1 nautical mile | about 6,076 ft |
Why a mile is 5,280 feet
The word “mile” comes from the Latin mille passus, “a thousand paces.” A Roman pace counted two steps, and a thousand of them came to roughly 5,000 Roman feet.
England kept the name but also used the furlong, the length of a furrow a team of oxen could plow before resting, about 660 feet. In 1593, an act of Parliament under Elizabeth I settled the matter by defining the mile as 8 furlongs. Eight times 660 gives 5,280, and the odd number has stuck ever since.
Statute miles vs nautical miles
The everyday mile is officially the statute mile. Ships and planes use the nautical mile, which is based on Earth’s shape: one nautical mile is one minute of latitude. It’s set at exactly 1,852 meters, or about 6,076 feet, which makes it around 15% longer than a regular mile.
By the numbers
- 5,280 ft
- Statute mile
- 1,760 yd
- Statute mile in yards
- 1.609 km
- Statute mile in kilometers
- 6,076 ft
- Nautical mile
A mile run on a standard track takes just over four laps of the 400-meter oval, because 1,609 meters is a little more than 1,600. Even the Empire State Building, at 1,454 feet with its antenna, is only about a quarter of a mile tall.
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