Slope Calculator | Average Slope

Average Slope Calculator

Calculate the average slope in degrees and percent from several sections and the total length and height difference. Please enter for each of up to 20 sections at distance and slope two values, of which at least one is a distance. The length must be positive. The other values of that section, as well as total length and height and the average slope will be calculated.

Number of sections: 1234567891011121314151617181920

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Round to   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   decimal places.

Total length:
Total height:
Average slope in degrees:
Average slope in percent:

Example: A road consists of three sections. First, it climbs 100 meters at a 12 percent gradient, then continues uphill for 200 meters at a 6 percent gradient, and finally descends 800 meters at a 2 percent gradient (slope in percent = -2). A total of 24 meters of elevation is gained in the first two sections, but 16 meters are lost in the last section, resulting in a net elevation gain of 8 meters over a total distance of 1100 meters. The average gradient of the entire route is therefore approximately 0.73 percent or 0.42 degrees, as two short sections are steep climbs and the majority of the route is only slightly downhill.

The gradient in percent is mathematically the ratio of the difference in altitude to the horizontal length, p=100*h/l. If a path consists of several segments of equal length, the average gradient in percent is therefore directly calculated as the arithmetic mean of the percentage values, because the differences in altitude add up linearly.
The gradient in degrees, on the other hand, describes the angle of the path to the horizontal and is related to the percentage gradient via the tangent function, p=100*tan(g). Since the tangent is a non-linear function, the arithmetic mean of several angles generally does not correspond to the angle of the average gradient. Instead, the total gradient must first be calculated from the differences in altitude and length. Only then can the corresponding angle be determined using the arctangent function.

Last updated on 04/19/2026. Author: Jürgen Kummer

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