How many miles are in 1 light-year?

One light-year equals approximately 5.879 x 1012 miles (about 5.88 trillion miles).

How fast does light travel in miles per second?

Light travels approximately 186,282 miles per second (299,792 km/s).

How far is the nearest star in miles?

Proxima Centauri is about 24.9 trillion miles (4.24 light-years) from Earth.

Light-years to Miles (ly to mi) Converter

1 ly = 5,878,630,000,000 mi

1 Light-year equals 5,878,630,000,000 Miles (1 ly = 5,878,630,000,000 mi). Convert Light-years to Miles with formula, table, and examples.

One light-year equals approximately 5.879 x 10¹² miles (about 5.88 trillion). This is the most commonly cited light-year conversion in American popular science, making interstellar distances graspable in the American road-distance unit.

How to Convert Light-years to Miles

mi = ly × 5,878,630,000,000

Multiply the value in Light-years by 5,878,630,000,000

Take your value in Light-years
Multiply by 5,878,630,000,000
Read the result in Miles

Common Light-years to Miles Conversions

Light-years (ly)	Miles (mi)	Status
0.001 ly	5,878,625,373.1836 mi
0.01 ly	58,786,253,731.8361 mi
0.1 ly	587,862,537,318.3608 mi
0.5 ly	2,939,310,000,000 mi
1 ly	5,878,630,000,000 mi
2 ly	11,757,300,000,000 mi
4.24 ly	24,925,400,000,000 mi
5 ly	29,393,100,000,000 mi
8.6 ly	50,556,200,000,000 mi
10 ly	58,786,300,000,000 mi
50 ly	293,931,000,000,000 mi
100 ly	587,863,000,000,000 mi
1,000 ly	5.87863 × 10¹⁵ mi
100,000 ly	5.87863 × 10¹⁷ mi

Good to Know About Light-years to Miles Conversion

Americans hear '5.88 trillion miles' and feel the vastness. The rest of the world hears '9.46 trillion kilometers.' Both numbers are equally incomprehensible. The light-year was invented precisely because neither miles nor kilometers can make interstellar distances feel real.

Light-years to Miles: What You Need to Know

Proxima Centauri at 4.24 light-years is about 24.9 trillion miles away. Light travels about 186,282 miles per second. The Sun is 93 million miles (1 AU) away. A light-year is about 63,241 times the Earth-Sun distance.

What is a Light-year? ly

The distance light travels in one Julian year (365.25 days) in vacuum. Exactly 9,460,730,472,580,800 meters. Used for interstellar distances.

Astronomical interstellar distances astronomy popular science

Learn more about Light-year →

What is a Mile? mi

An imperial unit of length equal to 5,280 feet or approximately 1.609 kilometers. The standard unit for road distances in the US and UK.

Imperial Us-customary road distances (US/UK) running aviation

Learn more about Mile →

Going the other way? Use our Miles to Light-years converter.

Light-years to Miles FAQ

One light-year equals approximately 5.879 x 10¹² miles (about 5.88 trillion miles).
Light travels approximately 186,282 miles per second (299,792 km/s).
Proxima Centauri is about 24.9 trillion miles (4.24 light-years) from Earth.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Light-years to Miles

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

Earth's circumference is about 24,901 miles. 1 light-year is about 5.88 trillion miles. That is about 236 million laps around Earth. If you drove around the equator once per day, it would take 646,575 years to cover 1 light-year. The cosmos does not respect frequent flyer programs.
About 5.88 trillion. At 1 cent per mile redemption value, that is $58.8 billion in rewards. Unfortunately, no airline flies to Proxima Centauri. You would have the points but nowhere to spend them.
Americans drive about 3.2 trillion miles per year. One light-year is 5.88 trillion miles. So all American driving for about 1.8 years totals 1 light-year. Collectively, America drives to the stars every 22 months. Just not in the same direction.