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Free reading speed test
How fast do you read?
The average adult reads 238 words a minute. This test gives you your own number in about two minutes: read a 272-word passage at your normal pace, then answer four questions so the speed is one you understood at.
Read 272 words at your normal pace
Read it once, the way you would read anything you want to understand. Press Done the moment you finish. Four questions follow.
Most people read at the speed they learned at twelve. Nobody told them to stop there. School taught them to read, tested that they could, and moved on. So the pace set in a classroom decades ago is the pace they use today for contracts, reports and every book they mean to finish.
The limit is not the eye. The eye can take in a word in a fraction of a second. The limit is habit. Most readers say each word silently in their head, and speech tops out near one hundred and fifty words a minute in conversation. Reading runs a little faster than that, but the inner voice still sets the ceiling. The second habit is travel. On a printed line the eyes do not glide. They jump, land, jump again, and often jump backward to reread words that were understood the first time.
Both habits can be trained. When words appear one at a time in a fixed place, the eyes have nowhere to travel and nothing to jump back to. When the pace rises a little each week, the inner voice starts to skip, then to fall quiet on easy words, and reading by sight takes over.
Speed alone proves nothing, though. Anyone can move their eyes down a page quickly and call it reading. The honest test is what you can answer afterward. A reader who doubles their pace and keeps their score has gained hours every week. A reader who doubles their pace and forgets the page has gained nothing at all. So measure both, every time, and raise the speed only when the answers hold.
That was too fast to be reading. Read it properly, then press Done.
| Book | At your speed |
|---|---|
| The Great Gatsby | |
| 1984 | |
| The Hobbit | |
| Pride and Prejudice | |
| War and Peace | |
| The King James Bible |
Average reading speeds
These are the figures from Brysbaert (2019), a review of 190 studies, Journal of Memory and Language.
| Reading | Words a minute |
|---|---|
| Silent, non-fiction | 238 |
| Silent, fiction | 260 |
| Aloud | 183 |
Now try a set pace
The test above measures you. These show you a pace: the same passage, one word at a time, at a fixed speed.
Questions
How is reading speed measured?
Words read divided by minutes taken. This test times you on a 272-word passage, then asks four questions, because speed only counts if you understood it.
What is a good reading speed?
The adult average is 238 words a minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction (Brysbaert (2019), a review of 190 studies, Journal of Memory and Language). Above 300 is fast. Above 400 with good comprehension takes training.
How fast do I read compared with average?
Divide your result by 238. A result of 476 is twice the average adult. The result screen does this for you.
Can I increase my reading speed?
Yes. The two habits that cap it, saying each word in your head and eyes that jump back along the line, both respond to practice. Raise the pace in small steps and keep a comprehension check on every read.