How to use the reading time calculator
Paste your article, essay or chapter into the box. The estimated reading time appears at the top of the results, based on the reading speed you choose. Below it you'll see how long the same text takes for slow, average and fast readers, when skimmed, and when read aloud.
Use the Slow, Average and Fast buttons for common speeds, or type any value into Words per minute. If your article includes photos, charts or screenshots, enter how many in Images to add time for looking at them.
How reading time is calculated
The formula is simple: the number of words divided by the reading speed in words per minute. The default speed is 238 words per minute, which comes from a 2019 review by psychologist Marc Brysbaert that pooled nearly 200 studies of adult silent reading in English. It found an average of about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and about 260 for fiction.
| Reader | Speed | 1,000 words takes |
|---|---|---|
| Slow or reading carefully | 200 wpm | 5 min |
| Average adult | 238 wpm | about 4 min 12 sec |
| Fast reader | 300 wpm | 3 min 20 sec |
| Skimming | 450 wpm | about 2 min 13 sec |
Technical material, text in a second language and dense academic writing are read more slowly, often 150 to 200 words per minute. Light, familiar content such as news and entertainment is read faster.
Time for images
Images slow readers down because people stop to look at them. The image setting follows the approach popularised by Medium: 12 seconds for the first image, 11 for the second, one second less for each image after that, and 3 seconds each from the tenth image on. It is a rough adjustment, but it makes estimates for image-heavy tutorials and recipe posts noticeably more realistic.
Should you show reading time on your blog?
A short "5 min read" label near the title helps visitors decide whether to start now or save the article for later, and it sets expectations for long guides. Round to the nearest minute and use the average speed, since you can't know each reader's pace. Many themes and plugins calculate this automatically, but they don't all use the same speed, so check yours against this calculator.
Reading time is also a useful planning tool. If you know your newsletter readers give it about three minutes, that is roughly 700 words. If you are preparing a talk rather than an article, use the Speaking Time Calculator instead, because speaking is much slower than silent reading.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average reading speed?
About 238 words per minute for adults reading non-fiction silently in English, and about 260 for fiction, according to a 2019 review of 190 studies.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4 minutes at an average speed of 238 words per minute. Slow readers need about 5 minutes and fast readers about 3.
Does reading time include images?
Only if you enter the number of images. Each one adds a few seconds, starting at 12 seconds for the first image.
Is my article uploaded to calculate the time?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and your text is never sent anywhere.
Last updated