Words divided by your reading speed
Reading time is just the word count divided by words per minute. The only number that matters is the speed you assume. A silent adult reader averages 200 to 250 WPM for ordinary prose, so 200 is a sensible default and gives a slightly generous, safe estimate.
How long common lengths take
| Words | At 200 WPM | At 250 WPM |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | 1 min | 0:48 |
| 500 | 2.5 min | 2 min |
| 1,000 | 5 min | 4 min |
| 2,000 | 10 min | 8 min |
| 5,000 | 25 min | 20 min |
| 10,000 | 50 min | 40 min |
A standard book page runs about 250 to 300 words, so a 300-page book is roughly 90,000 words, or near 7.5 hours of reading at 200 WPM.
Pick a speed that fits the reader
- Slow (100–150 WPM). Children, technical or legal text, and anything read in a foreign language.
- Normal (200–250 WPM). Adults reading articles, news and general nonfiction silently.
- Read aloud (~130 WPM). Speech and narration are much slower than silent reading — use this for scripts and audiobooks, not the default.
Common questions
What reading speed should I use?
Most adults read prose at about 200 to 250 words per minute silently. Two hundred is the safe default for a general audience; use 250 for easy, familiar material and 130 to 150 if the text is technical or read aloud.
How long does a 1,000-word article take to read?
About 5 minutes at 200 words per minute, or 4 minutes at 250. That is why a typical blog post of 1,000 to 1,500 words is often labelled a "5 to 7 minute read".
Why is my real reading time different?
The estimate assumes steady prose. Dense terms, code, tables and images all slow you down, and reading in a second language can add 20 to 50 percent. The number is a planning guide, not a stopwatch.
