{
  "id": "reading-time",
  "version": "90d6db806d10",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Reading Time Calculator",
  "question": "What is my reading time?",
  "summary": "Computes how long a text takes to read from its word count or page count, at an average adult reading rate (silent or aloud) or your own words per minute.",
  "category": "everyday-life",
  "subcategory": "fun",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/everyday-life/reading-time-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/everyday-life/reading-time-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "Words = word count, or pages × words per page; minutes = words ÷ words per minute; days = minutes ÷ minutes a day, rounded up.",
  "assumptions": [
    "Average adult rates from Brysbaert (2019): 238 words per minute for silent reading of non-fiction, 260 for fiction, and 183 for reading aloud.",
    "Pages hold 250 words by default, a round figure; count a full page of your own text for a better estimate.",
    "The time is for one reading at a steady rate, with no breaks."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "know": {
        "title": "I know",
        "description": "The number of words in the text, or its number of pages.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "words",
          "pages"
        ]
      },
      "words": {
        "title": "Words",
        "description": "The number of words in the text.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 10000000
      },
      "pages": {
        "title": "Pages",
        "description": "The number of pages to read.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 100000
      },
      "wpp": {
        "title": "Words per page",
        "description": "How many words one page holds. Count a full page of your text for a better figure.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 5000
      },
      "rate": {
        "title": "Reading rate",
        "description": "An average adult reading rate from Brysbaert (2019), or your own words per minute.",
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "nonfiction",
          "fiction",
          "aloud",
          "custom"
        ]
      },
      "wpm": {
        "title": "Words per minute",
        "description": "Your own reading rate in words per minute.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 2000
      },
      "daily": {
        "title": "Minutes a day",
        "description": "How many minutes you read each day. Leave empty to skip the days.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 1440
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "time": {
      "label": "Reading time",
      "description": "Words ÷ words per minute, rounded to the nearest second.",
      "format": "duration"
    },
    "minutes": {
      "label": "Minutes",
      "description": "The reading time in minutes, unrounded.",
      "format": "number"
    },
    "words": {
      "label": "Words",
      "description": "The words read: given, or pages × words per page.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "wpm": {
      "label": "Rate (wpm)",
      "description": "The reading rate used, in words per minute.",
      "format": "integer"
    },
    "days": {
      "label": "Days",
      "description": "Whole days to finish at the minutes a day you read: minutes ÷ minutes a day, rounded up.",
      "format": "integer"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "know": "words",
      "words": 2000,
      "pages": 300,
      "wpp": 250,
      "rate": "nonfiction",
      "wpm": 200
    },
    "outputs": {
      "time": {
        "hours": 0,
        "minutes": 8,
        "seconds": 24
      },
      "minutes": 8.403361344537815,
      "words": 2000,
      "wpm": 238
    },
    "text": "At 238 words per minute, the text takes 8 minutes, 24 seconds to read."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "know": "words",
        "words": 2380,
        "rate": "nonfiction"
      },
      "expect": {
        "minutes": 10,
        "time": {
          "hours": 0,
          "minutes": 10,
          "seconds": 0
        }
      },
      "source": "Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047 (238 wpm silent non-fiction); hand calculation in content.mdx: 2,380 ÷ 238 = 10 minutes"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "know": "pages",
        "pages": 300,
        "wpp": 250,
        "rate": "fiction",
        "daily": 30
      },
      "expect": {
        "words": 75000,
        "minutes": 288.46153846153845,
        "time": {
          "hours": 4,
          "minutes": 48,
          "seconds": 28
        },
        "days": 10
      },
      "source": "Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047 (260 wpm fiction); hand calculation in content.mdx: 75,000 ÷ 260 = 288.46 min = 4 h 48 min 28 s; 288.46 ÷ 30 = 9.6, so 10 days"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "know": "words",
        "words": 1000,
        "rate": "aloud"
      },
      "expect": {
        "minutes": 5.46448087431694,
        "time": {
          "hours": 0,
          "minutes": 5,
          "seconds": 28
        }
      },
      "source": "Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047 (183 wpm aloud); hand calculation in content.mdx: 1,000 ÷ 183 = 5.4645 min = 327.87 s, so 5 min 28 s"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "know": "words",
        "words": 1,
        "rate": "custom",
        "wpm": 120
      },
      "expect": {
        "time": {
          "hours": 0,
          "minutes": 0,
          "seconds": 1
        }
      },
      "source": "hand calculation in content.mdx: 1 × 60 ÷ 120 = 0.5 s, rounded half up to 1 s"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109, 104047 (silent reading 238 wpm non-fiction and 260 wpm fiction; reading aloud 183 wpm). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047 (retrieved 2026-10-02)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "wpm",
    "audiobook-length"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}