Reading Time Calculator
Estimate reading time for any text or word count. Enter words or paste text directly. Shows time for average, slow and fast readers. Great for writers, teachers and bloggers.
How to use
Average reading speeds
Research shows the average adult reads 200–250 words per minute of prose. Technical content, textbooks and poetry are typically read at 100–150 wpm. Quick news articles: 250–300 wpm.
Why reading time matters
Blog posts displaying reading time see 10–40% higher scroll depth. Medium, Substack and most major publications show estimated reading time because readers who know the commitment are more likely to start — and finish.
The fastest verified reading speed with genuine comprehension is around 1,000 wpm — roughly 4× the average. Most 'speed reading' courses that claim 10,000+ wpm are measuring skimming, not reading.
Frequently asked questions
How fast does the average adult read?
Research consistently finds the average adult reads around 200–250 words per minute for non-fiction prose. The most-cited figure from a large 2019 analysis of 190 studies is 238 wpm. Reading speed varies significantly by content type — technical documents, poetry and dense academic text are read more slowly than popular fiction or casual articles.
How long does it take to read a typical blog post?
A 1,000-word blog post takes about 4 minutes at average reading speed. A 2,000-word article takes about 8–9 minutes. Medium's reading time estimates (which appear at the top of every article) use 265 wpm as their baseline.
How long does it take to read a novel?
The average novel is about 80,000 words. At 238 wpm reading for 1 hour per day, that's roughly 5–6 hours of total reading, spread over about 5–6 days. A long novel like War and Peace (580,000 words) would take about 40 hours of reading time.