About the Reading Speed Test
This reading speed test tells you how many words per minute (WPM) you read — and whether you understood what you read. Choose a passage, press start, read at your normal pace and press done. You then answer three quick multiple-choice questions, and the test reports your raw WPM, your comprehension score and your effective reading speed, which is WPM multiplied by comprehension.
Use it to find a baseline before trying speed-reading techniques, to check progress over a semester, or simply to estimate how long a book or a reading list will take you. Read the way you normally would for the material: skimming produces a higher number but usually lower comprehension, and the effective speed exposes that trade-off.
Timed a reading elsewhere? Use the calculator below the test: enter the number of words, how long it took and your quiz score to get the same results, plus an estimate of how many hours a whole book will take at your speed.
With the default inputs, the reading speed is 240 WPM. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the reading speed test
- 1Pick a passage and press Start when you are ready to read.
- 2Read at your normal pace — do not skim unless that is how you usually read.
- 3Press Done the moment you finish the last sentence.
- 4Answer the three comprehension questions without looking back.
- 5Read your WPM, comprehension and effective speed, and retake with another passage.
Formula and method
Reading speed is the number of words in the passage divided by the reading time in minutes. Because reading fast is only useful if you understand the text, the test also asks comprehension questions and multiplies your speed by the share you answered correctly to give an effective reading speed.
The book estimate divides the book’s word count by your WPM to get minutes, then converts to hours; it assumes you keep the same pace, which is optimistic for dense or technical material. The page figure uses a 275-word page, a common length for a printed paperback page. When the quiz is skipped (0 questions), comprehension is treated as 100%.
- WPM
- Words per minute
- words
- Word count of the passage you read
- correct / questions
- Your comprehension quiz score
Worked examples
300 words in 1 minute 15 seconds, 3/3 correct
300 words in 75 seconds (1.25 minutes) is 240 WPM. With all three answers right, effective speed is also 240 WPM. A 90,000-word novel would take 90,000 ÷ 240 = 375 minutes, or 6¼ hours.
Fast reader who missed a question
450 words in 90 seconds is 300 WPM, but only 2 of 3 questions were right (66.7%), so effective speed is 300 × 0.667 = 200 WPM. The novel estimate at 300 WPM is 5 hours.
Careful reading of a textbook passage
250 words in exactly 2 minutes is 125 WPM, typical of studying dense material slowly. A 120,000-word textbook at that pace needs 120,000 ÷ 125 = 960 minutes, or 16 hours, and each 275-word page takes 2.2 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average reading speed?+
A 2019 review of 190 studies by Marc Brysbaert estimated that adults read silently at about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and about 260 WPM for fiction, based on 18,573 participants. Most adults read non-fiction at 175–300 WPM and fiction at 200–320 WPM.
Is a higher WPM always better?+
No. Speed only matters if you understand the text. Above roughly 400–500 WPM comprehension usually falls as reading turns into skimming, which is why this test reports an effective speed that multiplies WPM by your comprehension score.
Can I improve my reading speed?+
Modestly, yes: reading more often, building vocabulary, previewing headings and reducing re-reading all help. Claims of reading thousands of words a minute with full understanding are not supported by research on eye movements and comprehension.
How long will it take me to read a book?+
Divide the book’s word count by your WPM to get minutes. A 90,000-word novel takes about 6¼ hours at 240 WPM. Enter your book’s length in the calculator for a personal estimate; slow down the estimate for dense non-fiction.
Should I read aloud or silently for this test?+
Read silently, the way you normally read. Reading aloud is limited by speaking speed — Brysbaert’s review puts the average adult oral reading rate at about 183 WPM — so it measures something different from silent reading speed.