How long will it take to read?
Enter a word count, or a number of pages and words per page, and choose a reading speed. The calculator returns the silent reading time, the time to read the text aloud at a typical speaking pace, and, for long texts, how many days it will take at your daily reading time.
The formulas
- Words = pages × words per page (if you enter pages)
- Reading time = words ÷ reading speed (words per minute)
- Time aloud = words ÷ 150
- Days to finish = reading time ÷ minutes read per day, rounded up
Worked example: a blog post
A 1,500-word article read at an average speed of 238 words per minute:
- 1,500 ÷ 238 = 6.3 minutes, or 6 min 18 s.
- Read aloud at 150 words per minute: 10 minutes.
- At 275 words per page, it is about 5 pages long.
Worked example: a novel
A 300-page paperback at 275 words per page has about 82,500 words. At 260 words per minute for fiction, that is 317 minutes, or 5 h 17 min, about 11 days at 30 minutes a day.
Reading speeds
| Reader | Words per minute |
|---|---|
| Careful study, technical text | 100 to 150 |
| Average adult, non-fiction | about 238 |
| Average adult, fiction | about 260 |
| Fast reader | 300 to 400 |
| Skimming | 450 and above |
| Speaking or reading aloud | 130 to 160 |
The 238 and 260 figures come from a 2019 review of nearly 200 studies of adult silent reading in English. Claims of 1,000 words per minute or more consistently come with large drops in comprehension.
Speeches and presentations
Speakers usually talk at 130 to 160 words per minute, so a 5-minute toast is about 700 words and a 20-minute talk about 2,800. Slow down for an audience hearing the material for the first time, and leave a margin for pauses, laughs and questions.
Displaying reading time on a website
Many blogs show an estimated reading time, typically words ÷ 200 to 250, rounded up to the minute. It helps readers decide whether to read now or save the article, and sets expectations for long-form pieces.