Is a 9-minute mile good?
Short answer: for a 25-year-old man of median US size, a 9-minute mile is the 51st percentile of the general population and the 7th percentile against NCAA Division I athletes. For a 25-year-old woman it is the 86th percentile of the general population.
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EnduranceAerobic fitness and speed endurance
All-out mile (1,609 m — four laps of a track plus 9 m) on a flat surface. Pacing is a skill: your second or third attempt is the honest one.
Those two numbers are the whole point. Against everybody — including the majority of adults who never train — a 9-minute mile is about average for a 25-year-old man. Against people whose job is to be athletic, it is near the bottom. A percentile means nothing until you name the population.
Where a 9-minute mile lands
Percentile of an average-size adult at each age, computed with the same code the calculator runs. "General" is all adults of that sex and age; "D1" is NCAA Division I athletes of that sex, pooled across sports by head-count, with no age or size adjustment.
| Who | vs. general population | vs. D1 athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Man, age 25 | 51st | 7th |
| Man, age 40 | 78th | 7th |
| Woman, age 25 | 86th | 1st |
| Woman, age 40 | 97th | 1st |
Derived — converted from real data on a closely related measure. Derived from laboratory VO2max percentiles (FRIEND registry) converted to run time and calibrated to measured mile times of US Army recruits. Ages 30+ rest on the VO2max age gradient alone.
Questions
Is a 9-minute mile good for a man?
For a 25-year-old man of median US size (179 lb), a 9-minute mile is the 51st percentile of the general population — and the 7th percentile against pooled NCAA Division I athletes. By 40 the same result is the 78th percentile of the general population, because the norms fall with age.
Is a 9-minute mile good for a woman?
For a 25-year-old woman of median US size (153 lb), a 9-minute mile is the 86th percentile of the general population and the 1st percentile against D1 athletes.
Does bodyweight change the answer?
No. 9-minute mile results are not size-adjusted on this site — the evidence shows this test is essentially independent of how big you are, so the percentile depends only on your age and sex.
How much would I need for the 90th percentile?
A 25-year-old man of median size reaches the 90th percentile of the general population at 6:59, and a 25-year-old woman at 8:33.
How reliable is this number?
Derived — converted from real data on a closely related measure. Derived from laboratory VO2max percentiles (FRIEND registry) converted to run time and calibrated to measured mile times of US Army recruits. Ages 30+ rest on the VO2max age gradient alone.
One result is one result — any single test can be gamed by specializing. Get your overall rank across all fifteen tests, or read the methodology behind the one-mile run norms.