About the Reading Time Calculator
How long will it take to read this? The answer matters to students with a stack of assigned chapters, to writers who want to tell readers how long an article will take, to speakers timing a talk and to anyone deciding whether they can finish a book before a holiday ends. The calculation is simple — words divided by reading speed — but it helps to know what a realistic speed is.
This reading time calculator estimates the time to read any text from its word count, or from the number of pages and words per page. It uses your chosen reading speed, defaulting to 238 words a minute, the average adult silent reading speed for non-fiction found in a large 2019 review of research. It also shows the time at a reading-aloud pace, an average silent pace and a skimming pace, and — if you enter how many minutes a day you read — how many days it will take to finish.
How to Use the Reading Time Calculator
Choose From word count or From pages.
Enter the words, or the pages and words per page.
Enter your reading speed in words per minute, or keep the average of 238.
Optionally enter the minutes a day you read, to see how many days it will take.
The Formulas
words = pages × words per page
reading time = words ÷ words per minute
days = ⌈ reading time ÷ minutes per day ⌉Step-by-Step Examples
A 2,000-word article at 238 words a minute.
2,000 ÷ 238 = 8.4 minutes = 8 min 24 s
read aloud at 183 wpm: about 10 min 56 sA 300-page book at 300 words a page.
words 300 × 300 = 90,000
time 90,000 ÷ 238 = 378 minutes = 6 h 18 min
at 30 minutes a day: 13 daysA 1,500-word speech at 150 words a minute takes 10 minutes.
How Fast Do People Read?
In 2019 the psychologist Marc Brysbaert reviewed 190 studies involving more than 18,000 readers. He found average silent reading speeds for adults of about 238 words a minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, noticeably lower than the 300 words a minute often quoted. Reading aloud averaged about 183 words a minute. Individual speeds vary widely: children and people reading in a second language read more slowly, and experienced readers of familiar material more quickly. Timing yourself on a page of a typical book gives a much better personal estimate than any average.
Speed and Comprehension
Reading faster is not always better. Studies of speed-reading techniques find that claims of 1,000 words a minute or more come with a large drop in comprehension: what is being done at that speed is closer to skimming. Skimming at 400 to 700 words a minute is a useful skill for finding the main points or deciding whether a text is worth reading carefully, but understanding and remembering a demanding text requires a normal pace. For study reading, where you pause to take notes, re-read difficult passages or check references, an effective speed may be half your usual rate or less.
Timing Speeches and Presentations
Speeches and presentations are delivered more slowly than people read to themselves, typically at 130 to 160 words a minute, to leave time for pauses, emphasis and audience reactions. A five-minute talk therefore needs about 650 to 800 words, and a 20-minute conference presentation around 2,600 to 3,200. Rehearsing aloud with a timer is the most reliable check, as nerves tend to speed people up on the day.
Words per Page
Page counts vary a great deal with format. A typical paperback novel carries about 250 to 300 words a page, a dense hardback, textbook or academic book 350 to 450, and a double-spaced manuscript page about 250. Large print books may have fewer than 200. To estimate a particular book, count the words on three or four full pages and average them. E-readers show time-to-finish estimates based on your own reading speed, which work in the same way.
Building a Reading Habit
Short daily sessions add up. Twenty or thirty minutes of reading a day finishes a typical novel in two or three weeks and adds up to around 15 to 25 books a year. Fitting reading into existing routines, such as commuting, lunch breaks or before sleep, is usually easier than finding long blocks of free time.
Reading Time for Web Content
Many blogs and news sites show an estimated reading time at the top of each article, usually calculated at 200 to 265 words a minute. Readers use it to decide whether to read now or save the article for later, and research suggests a clear estimate can make people more likely to start reading. If you publish online, the calculator gives a quick, consistent figure for each post.
Understanding Your Result
The headline is the estimated reading time.
The working line shows the word count and the calculation.
The at other speeds line compares reading aloud, an average silent pace and skimming.
The days to finish line shows how many days it takes at your daily reading time.
When Should You Use This Calculator?
Use it to plan how long assigned reading will take.
Use it to show readers the reading time of an article or blog post.
Use it to time a speech or presentation.
Common Mistakes
Assuming 300 words a minute. Research puts the average nearer 238.
Ignoring difficulty. Technical text and note-taking slow you down.
Guessing words per page. Count a few pages of the actual book.
Timing a speech at reading speed. Speaking is slower than silent reading.