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Kilometers to Meters Converter

Convert kilometers to meters instantly, with a reference table for race distances, altitudes and map scales.

KM to Meters Converter

1 km = 1,000 m

Multiply kilometers by 1,000 to get meters.

The link carries the values you entered, so whoever opens it sees the same result. Nothing is stored on our side — the numbers travel in the link itself.

Kilometers to meters reference table

The conversions people look up most often, rounded to 2 decimal places.

Common kilometers to meters conversions
Kilometer (km)Meter (m)
0.1 km100 m
0.5 km500 m
1 km1,000 m
1.5 km1,500 m
2 km2,000 m
5 km5,000 m
8.848 km8,848 m
10 km10,000 m
21.1 km21,100 m
42.195 km42,195 m
100 km100,000 m
384,400 km384,400,000 m

The kilometers people look up most

1 km = 1,000 m
A thousand metres by definition - the prefix kilo means exactly that, so no conversion factor is involved.
5 km = 5,000 m
The 5K, 5,000 m. The track version covers the same distance on a measured oval rather than a road.
10 km = 10,000 m
Ten thousand metres, which on a standard track is exactly 25 laps.
21.0975 km = 21,097.5 m
A half marathon, 21,097.5 m. The odd figure comes from halving the marathon, which is itself an odd figure.
42.195 km = 42,195 m
The marathon, 42,195 m - fixed in 1921 from the 1908 London course, not from anything in ancient Greece.

How the km to meters calculation works

A kilometer is 1,000 meters by definition:

meters = kilometers × 1000

The "kilo-" prefix means a thousand in every SI unit, which is the entire appeal of the metric system: no factor to remember, just a decimal point moved three places right.

That makes this the easiest conversion here, and the one where mistakes are pure carelessness rather than arithmetic. Two places instead of three turns 5 km into 500 m — a tenth of the distance — and nothing about the number looks obviously wrong.

Where the conversion actually comes up:

  • Running. A 5 km race is 5,000 m. On a standard 400 m track that is 12.5 laps, which is why 5,000 m track races start on the back straight rather than the finish line.
  • Altitude. Everest is 8.848 km, or 8,848 m — always quoted in metres. Aircraft cruise around 10.7 km, or 10,700 m.
  • Map scales. At 1:25,000, one centimetre on the map is 250 m on the ground, so 4 cm is a kilometre. At 1:50,000 it is 500 m per centimetre, and 2 cm to the kilometre.
  • Astronomical distances stay in kilometres precisely because metres would be unreadable: the Moon is 384,400 km away, which is 384.4 million metres.

Going the other way, divide by 1,000 — or move the decimal three places left.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a metric unit between the metre and the kilometre?

Formally yes, and almost nobody uses them. The decametre of 10 m and the hectometre of 100 m are valid SI multiples. The hectometre survives on continental railway and motorway location markers, which count in hundreds of metres, and inside the hectare, which is a square hectometre. In ordinary use the system jumps straight from metres to kilometres.

Why is a track race 10,000 m and a road race 10 km?

Because they are laid out differently. Track events are measured to the running line of a 400 m oval and named in metres - 800, 1500, 5000, 10,000 - since each is a count of laps. Road races are measured over open ground and named in kilometres. The same distance therefore carries two names, and the records for each are kept separately.

Are Ordnance Survey grid references measured in metres?

Entirely. The two-letter prefix names a 100 km square and the digits count eastings and northings in metres inside it, so a six-figure reference locates a 100 m square and an eight-figure one a 10 m square. The difference between two grid references is already a distance in metres; the kilometre appears only in the name of the square.

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Further reading