WPM is just words divided by minutes
Count the words, divide by the time in minutes. Time in seconds divides by 60 first. Flip it around to plan ahead: minutes = words ÷ your WPM.
Read 245 words in 90 seconds? That is 1.5 minutes, so 245 ÷ 1.5 = 163 WPM. Count contractions and hyphenated words as one each ("don't" is one word, "mother-in-law" is one).
Benchmarks depend on which activity you mean
The same number means very different things for reading, typing and speaking. These are the ranges most people fall into.
| Level | Reading | Typing | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow | < 150 | < 40 | 120–140 |
| Average | 200–250 | 60–80 | 150–170 |
| Fast | 300–400 | 80–120 | 180–200 |
| Expert | 400–700 | 120+ | 250–350 |
Audiobook narrators use 150 WPM as the standard pace. A 90,000-word novel is about 6 hours at 250 WPM, 10 hours at 150.
Faster reading trades away comprehension
- The sweet spot is 200–300 WPM. That is where skilled readers keep roughly 90% comprehension on general text.
- Above 400 WPM you are skimming. Retention drops sharply past that; "speed reading" courses mostly teach keyword scanning, not faster true reading.
- Hard text needs to be slower. Dense technical or scientific material is best read at 150–200 WPM, whatever your usual pace.
Common questions
What is a normal reading speed?
For adults, 200 to 250 words per minute is average for general text. College-educated readers often reach 250 to 300. Below about 125 suggests a struggle; much above 400 usually means skimming, not full reading.
What is a good typing speed?
Casual typists run 40 to 60 WPM. An average office worker is 60 to 80, and 80 to 120 is fast. Accuracy matters more than raw speed: 95% accuracy at 60 WPM beats 70% accuracy at 100.
How long does it take to read 500 words?
About 2 to 2.5 minutes at a normal 200 to 250 WPM. Divide the word count by your speed: 500 divided by 200 is 2.5 minutes.
