Reading speed test
Read a short passage at your normal pace, then answer three questions about it. You'll get your reading speed in words per minute, a comprehension score, and how you compare with the average adult.
The passage is 383 words. Read it at your normal pace, the way you'd read an article, then press the button at the end. Three short questions follow.
The test runs in your browser and your answers are not sent anywhere. Read the way you normally would: rushing gives you a higher number but a lower comprehension score.
How the test works
Already know your word count and time? Use the words per minute calculator.
- Reading speed
- The words in the passage divided by the minutes between Start reading and the button at the end. A finish faster than 1,000 words per minute isn't counted, because nobody reads every word that fast.
- Comprehension
- Three multiple-choice questions about the passage, answered without it on screen. You need to answer all three to see your result.
- How you compare
- Your speed is compared with 238 words per minute and the 175 to 300 range most adults fall in for non-fiction, from Marc Brysbaert's 2019 review of 190 reading studies with 18,573 participants, published in the Journal of Memory and Language.
Average reading speed
Adults reading English, in words per minute, from Brysbaert's 2019 review. Readers in a second language, children and older adults tend to read more slowly.
| Kind of reading | Average | Most adults |
|---|---|---|
| Silent reading, non-fiction | 238 | 175 to 300 |
| Silent reading, fiction | 260 | 200 to 320 |
Reading aloud is slower, at about 183 words per minute. People speak at around 150 words per minute in conversation and the average typist manages about 40. Check your own number with the typing speed test.
Common questions
- What is the average reading speed?
- About 238 words per minute for an adult reading non-fiction silently in English, and about 260 for fiction. Those figures come from Marc Brysbaert's 2019 review of 190 reading studies with 18,573 participants. Most adults read non-fiction at 175 to 300 words per minute. Both figures are lower than the numbers often quoted in popular writing.
- What is a good reading speed?
- Anything from 175 to 300 words per minute is normal for adults reading non-fiction, and above 300 is faster than most people. Speed only counts if you understood the text, which is why this test asks three questions afterwards. A fast score with most answers wrong can mean you were skimming.
- How is reading speed calculated?
- Divide the number of words you read by the minutes it took. Reading 380 words in 1 minute 30 seconds is 380 divided by 1.5, or about 253 words per minute. This test times you from the moment you press Start reading to the moment you press the button at the end of the passage.
- Does speed reading work?
- Not in the way courses promise. A 2016 review led by Keith Rayner in Psychological Science in the Public Interest found that speed reading techniques trade comprehension for speed: people move through the text faster but take in less of it. Reading more, and knowing more words and topics, is what makes readers faster over time.
- How can I improve my reading speed?
- Read more, and read things a little above your comfort level. Familiar topics and a wide vocabulary are what let you read quickly without losing the meaning. Cut down on rereading sentences you have already understood, and take the test again in a few weeks with a different passage to compare.
- Is reading faster than speaking or typing?
- Yes. Silent reading averages about 238 words per minute, reading aloud about 183, conversation about 150, and typing about 40. Writing is the slow step for most people, which is why dictating lets you write about three times faster than typing.
You read faster than you type
Most people read at around 238 words per minute and type at 40. Dictation Daddy closes some of that gap: speak, and punctuated text appears in any app. Try it in your browser, then download it for Mac, Windows, Android or Chrome.
Runs in your browser. No download or signup to try it.