Slope Percentage Calculator

The slope percentage calculator helps you in calculating the incline or decline percentage of a slope or terrain. Additionally, it offers the slope angle, presented in various units for your convenience.

This is how our slope percentage calculator works:

Simply, enter the values of the Rise and Run in the designated field

Hit the Calculate button

The calculator will quickly process the information and will deliver you the results for the Slope Percentage, Slope Percentage Angle along with its step-by-step solution.

What is slope percentage?

Slope percentage is a way of describing how much elevation is gained or lost over a given horizontal distance. It’s commonly used to express the steepness of various surfaces, such as hills, pipes, or sidewalks.

It is calculated by dividing the vertical change in elevation, known as the Rise, by the horizontal distance covered known as the Run.

The slope percentage can be useful in various fields such as construction projects, road design, landscaping, hiking trail planning, and other situations where the steepness of a slope is a critical factor.

How do I calculate the slope percentage?

Whether you are dealing with a hillside, a road, or any other sloped surface, calculating the slope percentage is easy. Simply follow these steps:

• 1. Measure the rise: This is the vertical distance the slope travels, either upwards or downwards. Remember to consider the direction when taking the measurement. If the slope goes down, the rise value will be negative.

• 2. Measure the run: This is the horizontal distance the slope covers. Make sure both the rise and run measurements are in the same unit, such as meters, feet, or inches.

• 3. Apply the slope percentage formula: Once you have both values, use the following formula to calculate the slope percentage:

Slope percentage = (Rise / Run) * 100

• 4. Interpret the result: The result you get will be a percentage value representing the steepness of the slope. Higher percentages indicate steeper slopes, while lower percentages indicate flatter slopes.

• 5. Using a calculator: You can also use the slope percentage calculator available on Calculatored for an easy and quick calculation of the slope percentage of an incline.

Conversion to Degrees: 

Sometimes, you might want to understand the slope in terms of degrees. Here’s how to convert:

• From slope percentage to degrees: Apply this next formula: 

• Angle = atan(s/100), where the angle is in degrees, s is the slope percentage, and atan is the inverse tangent function.

• From degrees to slope percentage: Use this formula: 

• Slope percentage = tan(d) × 100, where d represents the slope in degrees

Example:

Imagine a wheelchair ramp with a vertical rise of 5 meters and a horizontal length of 10 meters. We want to find the slope percentage and angle.

Slope Percentage:

• Formula: Slope percentage = (Rise / Run) * 100
• Values: Rise = 5 meters, Run = 10 meters
• Calculation: (5 meters / 10 meters) * 100 = 50%

Therefore, the slope of the wheelchair ramp is 50%.

Convert Slope Percentage to Degrees:

• Use the formula: Angle = atan(s/100)
• Adding up the values to the formula: Angle = atan 50 / 100 = atan (0.5)
• Assuming the calculator is set to degrees, the result would be in degrees:
• Angle ≈ atan(0.5) ≈ 26.57°

How much is a 5% slope?

We have included a table below to provide a clear overview of slopes at various inclinations.