Reading Time Calculator
How long a text takes to read silently, read aloud, or delivered as a talk. These are measured rates, so the numbers here come from published research rather than a single average.
Silent reading of English non-fiction runs at about 238 words per minute; reading aloud averages 183. Both figures come from Brysbaert, M, a meta-analysis of 190 studies and 18,573 participants. A thousand words therefore take about 4 minutes 12 seconds read silently and 5 minutes 28 seconds read aloud. If you are timing a script for delivery rather than a page for reading, the words to time calculator uses delivery paces instead.
Your script
Stage-direction tags — [pause 3s], [applause], [laugh],
[beat], [slide] — add real seconds and are never counted as spoken words.
Result
Type a word count or paste a script.
Measured reading rates
Every figure below is traceable to the same meta-analysis.
| Reading type | WPM | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Silent reading, non-fiction | 238 | Brysbaert (2019) |
| Silent reading, fiction | 260 | Brysbaert (2019) |
| Reading aloud | 183 | Brysbaert (2019) — Measured across 77 studies in the same meta-analysis. |
The same study notes that most adults fall between 175 and 300 words per minute for non-fiction, so a single average describes the middle of a wide range rather than any one reader. Children, older adults and second-language readers sit below the average.
Words to time, instantly
Tap any count to load it. The table updates to match whatever pace you have selected.
| Words | 110 WPMdeliberate | 130 WPMstandard | 160 WPMbrisk | 238 WPMsilent read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 00:55 | 00:46 | 00:38 | 00:25 |
| 250 | 02:16 | 01:55 | 01:34 | 01:03 |
| 500 | 04:33 | 03:51 | 03:08 | 02:06 |
| 750 | 06:49 | 05:46 | 04:41 | 03:09 |
| 1,000 | 09:05 | 07:42 | 06:15 | 04:12 |
| 1,500 | 13:38 | 11:32 | 09:23 | 06:18 |
| 2,000 | 18:11 | 15:23 | 12:30 | 08:24 |
| 3,000 | 27:16 | 23:05 | 18:45 | 12:36 |
| 5,000 | 45:27 | 38:28 | 31:15 | 21:01 |
The first three columns are planning paces chosen to show how much pace moves a total. The 238 WPM column is the measured average for silent reading of English non-fiction in Brysbaert (2019).
Reading aloud versus reading silently
The gap between the two is large, which is why rehearsing silently is such a common mistake. A script that takes six minutes to read on the page can take ten to deliver, because eyes move faster than a mouth can articulate.
That gap is why the calculator here reports both figures. Silent reading is the right number when you are estimating whether an article is worth starting. Reading aloud is the right number for narration and voiceover. Delivery paces belong to the words to time calculator, because a scripted talk runs slower still.
For audiobook and long-form narration, 150 to 160 words per minute is the band most narrators settle on, which sits between measured reading aloud at 183 and a projected delivery pace of 130.
Questions about reading time
Speaking time is how long the text takes to deliver out loud. Silent reading time is how long it takes to read with your eyes, which is faster because your eyes move quicker than your mouth. The same thousand words is about 7 minutes 42 seconds spoken at 130 words per minute and about 4 minutes 12 seconds read silently at 238.
Use the Test My Pace control on this page. It uses your browser speech recognition to count the words you say during a ten to fifteen second read, then divides by the elapsed time to give your real rate. Speak in the way you would deliver, not the way you would chat. Audio is processed by the browser and never recorded or stored.
Because they are not research averages. The 110, 130 and 160 words-per-minute options are planning paces chosen to show how much delivery pace moves a total, and they are labelled as planning values. The measured figures used for reading modes come from Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis and are cited with their sample size in the pace reference on the home page.
Yes. Pick the brisk pace for video and voiceover scripts where delivery is usually faster than presenting, and measure yourself once with the pace test before you commit. The telemetry area also gives you word count, character count and section-by-section timings, which is what you need when a script has to fit an edit.