How long does it take to read 980 pages?
18 hr 52 min for an average reader (238 words per minute, ~275 words a page).
980 pages is a long book. Reading 30 minutes a day, plan on roughly 38 days. Slow readers need about 25 hr 40 min; fast readers about 14 hr 58 min.
Your time for 980 pages
980 pages × 275 words ≈ 269,500 words ÷ 238 wpm. Measure your own speed
| Reader | Speed | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Slow / careful | 175 wpm | 25 hr 40 min |
| Reading aloud | 183 wpm | 24 hr 32 min |
| Average adult | 238 wpm | 18 hr 52 min |
| Fiction, average | 260 wpm | 17 hr 16 min |
| Fast reader | 300 wpm | 14 hr 58 min |
| Very fast | 400 wpm | 11 hr 13 min |
| Page type | Words/page | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Paperback novel | ~275 | 18 hr 52 min |
| Hardcover / large print | ~230 | 15 hr 47 min |
| Textbook / non-fiction | ~350 | 24 hr 1 min |
| Document, single-spaced | ~500 | 34 hr 18 min |
| Document, double-spaced | ~250 | 17 hr 9 min |
How this estimate works
Time = pages × words per page ÷ reading speed. A typical paperback page holds about 250–300 words, so we use 275. The 238 wpm average comes from a 2019 review of 190 reading studies by psychologist Marc Brysbaert; fiction is read a little faster, at about 260 wpm. Your real time also depends on the font, the page size and how dense the writing is, so treat it as a planning figure. To get a figure for you rather than the average, take the 60-second reading speed test; your result then appears as “My speed” in the calculator above.
Working in words instead of pages? Use the reading time calculator, or convert with words to pages.
Other book lengths
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Questions people ask
How long does it take to read 980 pages?
About 18 hr 52 min for an average adult reading silently at 238 words per minute, assuming a paperback page of about 275 words (269,500 words in total). A slower reader at 175 wpm needs about 25 hr 40 min; a fast reader at 300 wpm about 14 hr 58 min.
How many days to read 980 pages?
At 30 minutes of reading a day and an average speed, about 38 days. At an hour a day, about 19 days.
How many words are in 980 pages?
Roughly 269,500 words in a paperback (about 275 words a page). A single-spaced document page holds about 500 words, so 980 document pages is about 490,000 words.
How many pages can you read in an hour?
About 52 paperback pages at the average adult speed of 238 wpm, or about 28 single-spaced document pages. Dense textbooks go slower, often 20–30 pages an hour.