Reading time calculator
Paste a text, or enter a word or page count, to see how long it takes to read at the average speed or at your own.
0words
0words
0words
Other sizes: 200 large print, 250 manuscript, 350 hardcoverPaste a text, or enter a word or page count.
Rounded to the nearest minute. Nothing you paste leaves this page.
How long common lengths take
| LENGTH | Slow150 wpm | Average238 wpm | Fast350 wpm |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000-word article | 7 min | 4 min | 3 min |
| 5,000-word essay | 33 min | 21 min | 14 min |
| 100 pages | 3 h 20 min | 2 h 6 min | 1 h 26 min |
| 300-page book | 10 h | 6 h 18 min | 4 h 17 min |
| 1,000-page book | 33 h 20 min | 21 h 1 min | 14 h 17 min |
Pages at 300 words each, the size of a typical paperback.
Bundle shows the reading time on everything you save
Save an article from Safari or Chrome and Bundle shows how long it takes, keeps it for offline reading, and asks you a few questions at the end.
How reading time is worked out
Reading time is the number of words divided by your reading speed in words a minute. A 2,856-word article at the average speed of 238 words a minute takes 2,856 ÷ 238 = 12 minutes.
This page rounds to the nearest minute and shows hours and minutes for anything longer than an hour. Reading out loud is slower, about 183 words a minute, so a talk or an audiobook takes longer than reading the same words silently.
How many words are on a page
It depends on the book. A typical paperback has about 300 words a page, a hardcover with bigger pages about 350, and a large-print book about 200. A double-spaced manuscript page holds about 250.
The calculator uses 300 words a page unless you pick another size. For your own writing, where font, size and line spacing set the count, the words to pages converter works it out.
To check your own book, count the words on three full lines, divide by three, and multiply by the number of lines on a page.
How long it takes to read 100 pages
At 300 words a page, 100 pages is 30,000 words. At the average 238 words a minute, that’s about 2 hours and 6 minutes.
A slower reader at 150 words a minute needs about 3 hours and 20 minutes, and a faster one at 350 needs about 1 hour and 26 minutes.
What’s the average reading speed?
The average adult reads non-fiction in English at about 238 words a minute and fiction at about 260. Those numbers come from a 2019 review of 190 studies by Marc Brysbaert.
To find your own speed, take the reading speed test. It takes about two minutes, and this calculator uses your result once you’ve done it.