Reading Time Calculator
Reading time at five research-based speeds + your own pace, a speech word-budget planner & common-lengths grid.
0 words at 238 wpm
0 sec
🎤 Speech planner — the reverse question
📋 Common lengths at your speed (238 wpm)
250 words
1 min 3 sec
500 words
2 min 6 sec
750 words
3 min 9 sec
1,000 words
4 min 12 sec
1,500 words
6 min 18 sec
2,000 words
8 min 24 sec
3,000 words
12 min 36 sec
5,000 words
21 min 1 sec
💡 The 238 wpm default comes from published research on adult silent reading of non-fiction. Dense technical material drops most readers to 100–150 wpm — use the slider to match your reality.
⏱️How long will it take — at your speed, not an average
Paste your text (or just enter a word count) and see reading time at five research-based speeds — from a 400-wpm skim to reading aloud at 130 — plus a slider for your personal pace. The speech planner works the question backwards: tell it your slot ("3 minutes") and it tells you the word budget. A common-lengths table shows what 500, 1,000, or 5,000 words cost at your speed.
📊Everything you'd want to know
- Two inputs: paste real text (counted live, never uploaded) or type a word count.
- Five calibrated speeds — skim 400, fast 300, average 238 (published research on adult silent reading), careful study 150, aloud 130.
- A personal-speed slider from 80 to 500 wpm.
- The speech planner: minutes → word budget at presentation pace.
- A common-lengths grid (250 to 5,000 words) that recalculates at your speed.
🧮The maths
Published studies put average adult silent reading of non-fiction at roughly 238 wpm — fiction runs faster, technical material far slower. Speaking is slower still: clear presentation pace sits near 130 wpm, which is why a 5-minute talk is only about 650 words.
💡Planning with reading time
- Revision planning: time chapters at 150 wpm, not 238 — studying isn't reading.
- Blog posts: 7 minutes (~1,600 words) is the sweet spot most platforms report for engagement.
- Speeches: write to 90% of your slot; live delivery always runs longer than rehearsal.
- Reading speed is trainable — measure yours by timing one page, then set the slider honestly.
💡 Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?+
About 4–5 minutes at the average adult pace (238 wpm), 7 minutes as careful study, and nearly 8 minutes aloud. The tool shows all five speeds side by side for any length.
What is the average reading speed?+
Research puts adult silent reading of non-fiction around 238 words per minute, with fiction slightly faster. Careful textbook study drops to 100–150 wpm — the five preset speeds cover the realistic range.
How many words is a 5-minute speech?+
About 650 words at a comfortable 130-wpm speaking pace. The speech planner computes the budget for any slot — and remember live delivery usually runs 10% longer than rehearsal.
How is blog reading time calculated?+
Platforms like Medium divide word count by roughly 238–265 wpm and round. Paste your draft here to see the figure your readers will be shown, plus how it changes for slower, careful readers.
Does the calculator upload my text?+
No — word counting and timing run entirely in your browser. Paste anything, including unpublished work; nothing leaves the page.