We have used all tha available data from the Einstein Observatory Imaging Proportional Counter (IPC), and a critical compilation of catalogued optical data, to measure the 0.16-3.5 keV X-ray emission from 88 K and 169 M stars of luminosity classes IV, V and VI within 25 pc from the Sun. The IPC detected 54 out of the 88 K stars, 70 out of the 138 M stars with M_v_ less than 13.4 (corresponding approximatively to M5), and 15 out of the 31 fainter M stars. We have identified a subsample of surveyed stars that is statistically representative of the population of K and M stars in the solar neighborhood.
