Live counts of words, characters, sentences and paragraphs, plus reading time and your most used words, all private in your browser.
“5 min read” at the top of an article is a small promise to the reader. Here’s how that number is worked out, and how to estimate speaking time for talks and videos.
The formula
Reading time (minutes) = word count ÷ words per minute
The only real question is which reading speed to use.
Average reading speed
A large 2019 meta-analysis by Marc Brysbaert, covering 190 studies and nearly 18,600 participants, estimated that adults read English silently at about:
- 238 words per minute for non-fiction
- 260 words per minute for fiction
Older rules of thumb of 200–300 wpm are in the same range. Our word counter uses 238 wpm, so 1,000 words ≈ 4 minutes 12 seconds.
Reading time chart
| Words | Reading time (238 wpm) | Speaking time (150 wpm) |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | ~1 min | ~1 min 40 s |
| 500 | ~2 min | ~3 min 20 s |
| 1,000 | ~4 min | ~6 min 40 s |
| 1,500 | ~6 min | ~10 min |
| 2,000 | ~8½ min | ~13 min |
| 3,000 | ~12½ min | ~20 min |
| 5,000 | ~21 min | ~33 min |
What slows reading down
- Technical or dense content: academic papers may be read at 100–150 wpm.
- Code, formulas and tables: these take time but contain few “words”.
- Reading on small screens.
- Second-language readers.
- Images and charts: Medium-style estimates often add around 10 seconds per image.
For technical guides, consider lowering the rate to about 200 wpm or adding time per code block.
Speaking time
Comfortable presentation pace is about 130–160 words per minute; we use 150 wpm.
- Audiobooks: ~150–160 wpm
- Conversational podcasts: 150–170 wpm
- Slow, formal speeches: 100–130 wpm
- Fast talkers / auctioneers: 200+ wpm
So a 10-minute talk needs roughly 1,300–1,600 words of script, and a 2-minute video about 300.
Tips for presenters
- Write your script, paste it into the word counter and check speaking time.
- Leave 10–15% slack for pauses, slides and questions.
- Rehearse aloud with a timer. Your real pace is the only accurate number.
Does reading time help SEO?
Not directly as a ranking factor, but showing reading time can set expectations, reduce bounce from readers who wanted something shorter, and improve engagement. Pair it with a clear structure, descriptive headings and a strong meta description (see Ideal SEO Title and Meta Description Length (and How to Write Them)).
For converting words to printed pages instead, see How Many Pages Is 500, 1,000 or 2,000 Words? (Word Count to Pages Chart).
Live counts of words, characters, sentences and paragraphs, plus reading time and your most used words, all private in your browser.