Grade Calculator

Work out the grade (gradient) of a hill, road, trail or ramp as a percentage — plus the angle in degrees and the ratio. Enter the rise (elevation change) and the run (horizontal distance).

How Grade Is Calculated

Road and trail grade is the rise over the run, expressed as a percentage:

Grade (%) = (Rise ÷ Run) × 100

The run is the horizontal distance — the flat distance on a map — not the length of the slope itself. A 100 m climb over 1,000 m of horizontal distance is a 10% grade.

Percent, Degrees and Ratio

The same slope can be written three ways, and this calculator shows all of them:

• Percent (e.g. 10%) — used for roads, cycling and railways
• Degrees (e.g. 5.7°) — used for angles and roofs
• Ratio (e.g. 1 in 10) — used on older road signs

They aren’t linearly related: a 100% grade is 45°, not 90°.

What Grades Feel Like

• 1–3% — barely noticeable, gentle
• 4–6% — a steady climb you’ll feel on a bike
• 7–10% — hard climbing, a challenge for cyclists
• 11%+ — steep; the toughest paved climbs hit 15–25%

Get Rise and Run From a Route

Measure the horizontal distance of a climb on the map with the distance calculator, and read the elevation change from the elevation profile — then drop both figures in here.

Get Distance Measure

Download Distance Measure for iOS and start measuring in seconds.