Reading speed test: how many words per minute do you read?
Read a short passage for one minute, tap where you stopped, and answer four questions. You’ll get your reading speed in wpm and a comprehension score, right here, with no sign-up.
Read at your normal pace for 60 seconds, the way you would read a magazine article. When time is up, tap the last word you reached. Then answer four questions to check you kept the meaning.
What your wpm score means
Reading speed is the number of words you read in a minute while still following the meaning. In the largest review so far, psychologist Marc Brysbaert pooled 190 studies covering more than 18,000 readers and found that adults read non-fiction silently at about 238 words per minute, and fiction at about 260 wpm. Reading aloud is slower, at around 183 wpm, because your mouth sets the pace.
Speed is only half the result. A score of 400 wpm with one question right is really skimming. That is why the test multiplies your speed by your quiz accuracy to give an effective reading speed: it rewards understanding, not just hurrying.
Typical reading speeds
| Reader | Typical wpm |
|---|---|
| Year 3 / 3rd grade (silent) | ~110 |
| Year 6 / 6th grade (silent) | ~170 |
| Secondary school / high school | ~200–250 |
| Adult, non-fiction | 238 |
| Adult, fiction | 260 |
| Adult, reading aloud | 183 |
School-age figures are approximate silent-reading norms (Hasbrouck & Tindal; Brysbaert 2019). See average reading speed by age for the full breakdown.
Why you can’t read 1,000 words a minute
Your eyes don’t glide across a line. They make short jumps called saccades and stop for about a quarter of a second on almost every word. Those stops are called fixations, and only during them do you actually take in text. About one jump in seven goes backwards to re-read. Move the sliders to see how these three numbers set your reading speed, and what a “speed reading” claim would require.
235 stops a minute × 1.2 words each, minus 15% spent going back. This is close to what eye-tracking studies record for skilled adult readers.
The sharp part of your vision covers only about seven or eight letters at a time. Beyond it, words are too blurry to read reliably. So the real limit on reading speed isn’t your eyes. It’s how quickly your brain recognises words and builds meaning from them. That is why the best way to read faster is to read more: a bigger vocabulary means shorter fixations and fewer jumps back.
More reading tools
Questions people ask
How does the reading speed test work?
You read a passage silently at your normal pace for 60 seconds, then tap the last word you reached. Words read divided by minutes gives your words per minute (wpm). Four multiple-choice questions then check that you understood what you read.
What is a good reading speed?
For adults reading ordinary non-fiction silently, about 238 wpm is average, with most people between roughly 175 and 300 wpm (Brysbaert, 2019). Fiction is read a little faster, about 260 wpm. Anything above 300 wpm with good comprehension is fast.
Is the 60-second test accurate?
One minute gives a fair snapshot, but your speed changes with the text, your mood and how awake you are. Take the test on two or three different passages and look at your average, which the site keeps for you in your browser.
Can students use this reading speed test?
Yes. The passages are written at three levels (easy, medium and harder) so students and teachers can compare like with like. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account, so it is safe to use in class.
Is speed reading real?
You can read faster by skimming, but eye-movement research shows that understanding falls as speed rises beyond about 400–500 wpm. A 2016 review by Rayner and colleagues found no evidence that speed-reading courses let people read much faster without losing comprehension.
Is this a typing test?
No. WPM Check measures how fast you read and understand text, not how fast you type. Reading wpm and typing wpm are separate skills.