Turtle data
Only 1 in 4 women say they walk 10,000 steps a day
Key findings
25% of about 74,000 women joining Turtle (2021 to October 2026) said they walk 10,000 or more steps a day, and 18% said fewer than 5,000. The typical answer was about 7,000 steps; women aged 45 to 54 were the most likely to report 10,000 (29%). Source: Turtle Method member data, turtlemethod.com/data/daily-steps-by-age/.
women say they walk 10,000 steps a day
Only 1 in 4 women say they walk 10,000 steps on a typical day. When about 74,000 women joined Turtle, the app asked them roughly how many steps they do a day. 25% said 10,000 or more, 54% said 7,000 or more, and 18% said fewer than 5,000. The typical answer was about 7,000 steps.
Answers when joining Turtle, by age
Source: Turtle Method member sign-up answers · CC BY 4.0
Women in their late 40s and early 50s walk the most
Women aged 45 to 54 were the most likely to report 10,000 steps a day (29%). The oldest group, 65 and over, reported the fewest steps, with the largest share under 5,000.
| Age | 10,000+ | Under 5,000 | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 24 | 24% | 20% | about 4,900 |
| 25 to 34 | 23% | 18% | about 30,000 |
| 35 to 44 | 25% | 16% | about 25,000 |
| 45 to 54 | 29% | 17% | about 9,800 |
| 55 to 64 | 28% | 20% | about 3,600 |
| 65 and over | 21% | 27% | about 520 |
| All women | 25% | 18% | about 74,000 |
What the research says
More daily steps were linked with lower risk of death, levelling off at about 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day for adults under 60 and 6,000 to 8,000 for those over 60.
Paluch AE, Bajpai S, Bassett DR, et al. (2022). Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. The Lancet Public Health. doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00302-9
In older women, about 4,400 steps a day was linked with lower mortality than about 2,700, with the benefit levelling off at around 7,500.
Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, et al. (2019). Association of step volume and intensity with all-cause mortality in older women. JAMA Internal Medicine. doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0899
Questions people ask
How many steps do women walk a day?
When women join Turtle, the typical answer is about 7,000 steps a day. 25% say 10,000 or more and 18% say fewer than 5,000.
Do I need 10,000 steps a day?
No. A 2022 analysis of 15 studies found the benefits for adults under 60 level off at about 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, and at 6,000 to 8,000 for over-60s, with gains starting well below that.
Method
The Turtle sign-up question "How many steps do you roughly do per day?", latest saved answer, women who joined between 2021 and October 2026 (about 74,000). Answers under 100 or over 50,000 were left out. Women only, staff accounts excluded; every group shown has 50 or more women and sizes are rounded. This shows a pattern, not a cause. Full methodology.
Cite this
Free to use with credit and a link to the source page. The figures and chart on this page are licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Journalists: for another cut of the data (aggregates only, same rules), contact scott@turtlemethod.com. More data on the Turtle data hub.
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