Reading time calculator
Enter a word count, a page count or the text itself, and a reading speed. The calculator gives the reading time, the days to finish at the minutes you read per day, and the listening time for the same text as audio.
- Reading time
- 6 h 18 min
- Days to finish
- 13 days
- Listening time at 1x
- 9 h 41 min
The same text as audio takes 6 h 27 min at 1.5x and 4 h 50 min at 2x.
How the reading time is computed
Reading time is the number of words divided by the reading speed in words per minute. A 90,000 word book at 238 words per minute takes 90,000 / 238 = 378 minutes, which is 6 hours 18 minutes. At 30 minutes a day that is 13 days.
A page count is turned into words first. The default of 275 words per page is a rough figure for a printed book, where pages usually hold 250 to 300 words. Editions differ, so count the words on one full page of yours if the estimate matters. Pasted text is counted in your browser, by splitting it at spaces and line breaks. Nothing is uploaded.
Sources for the speeds
The default of 238 words per minute comes from Marc Brysbaert, How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate, Journal of Memory and Language, 2019. From 190 studies with 18,573 participants it estimates the average silent reading rate for adults in English at 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction. Reading aloud averages 183 words per minute. Most adults fall between 175 and 300 for non-fiction. If you know your own speed, enter it. The reading speed test measures it in about two minutes.
Listening time uses 155 words per minute for narration at 1x. ACX, the audiobook production service owned by Audible, estimates finished length at 9,300 words per hour. The 90,000 word book is about 9 hours 41 minutes of audio at 1x, 6 hours 27 minutes at 1.5x and 4 hours 50 minutes at 2x. For other speeds, use the audiobook speed calculator.
Limits of the number
The average describes adults reading ordinary prose at their own pace. A statistics textbook, a contract or a paper outside your field goes slower, and the parts you reread are not in the estimate.
Reading time is the time to reach the last page, which is a different thing from the time to understand the book. Raising the words per minute figure shortens the estimate and tells you nothing about what you could explain afterwards. The same holds for audio at 2x, which is covered in alternatives to Audible for people who listen to learn and in Speechify alternatives.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read a book?
- A 90,000 word book takes 6 hours 18 minutes at 238 words per minute, the average adult speed for non-fiction. At 30 minutes a day that is 13 days. A 300 page book at 275 words per page is 82,500 words and takes 5 hours 47 minutes.
- How long does it take to read 100 pages?
- About 1 hour 56 minutes at 275 words per page and 238 words per minute. A page that holds 550 words takes twice as long.
- What is the average reading speed?
- Adults read English non-fiction silently at 238 words per minute on average, and fiction at 260. Reading aloud averages 183. The figures are from a 2019 review of 190 studies by Marc Brysbaert. Most adults fall between 175 and 300 words per minute for non-fiction.
- Is listening to a book faster than reading it?
- At 1x, no. Audiobook narration runs at about 155 words per minute, slower than the 238 words per minute silent reading average. A 90,000 word book takes about 9 hours 41 minutes to hear and 6 hours 18 minutes to read. At 1.5x the two are close.
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