TYPICAL SPEED
Slower than the myth
The 2019 review found most adults read English non-fiction at 175 to 300 words a minute, averaging 238. Reading aloud averaged 183.
Check your readingStart
WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS
About 238 words
a minute.
Most of us read slower than we think.
A 2019 review of 190 studies found typical adults read English non-fiction silently at about 238 words a minute and fiction at about 260. The often-quoted 300 words a minute turned out to be an overestimate.
238words a minute
Check your readingKeep in mind
- Speed trades off with understanding
- Eyes have to move
- Vocabulary is the real booster
- How reading speed really works
THE SHORT ANSWER
Steady beats
speedy.
Reading speed has natural limits.
Pushing past them costs understanding.
SPEED READING
A trade-off, not a trick
A 2016 review in Psychological Science in the Public Interest found a trade-off between speed and accuracy: doubling speed without losing understanding is unlikely.
See the numbers
GETTING FASTER
Read more, know more words
The same review concluded that the best route to faster reading with good understanding is practice and a bigger vocabulary.
What helpsA QUICK READING CHECK
How fast is
this kind of reading?
Pick a kind of reading to see the typical speed research reports. The bar shows how fast it is compared with the others.
Averages from research on adult readers of English. Individual readers vary widely.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
The average,
and the ceiling.
One figure for a typical adult reader,
one for the fastest reading confirmed in the lab.
238 wpm
Silent reading of English non-fiction
Pooled from 190 studies of silent reading, published between 1901 and 2019. The commonly cited 300 words a minute is, the review argues, unrealistic for most people.
TYPICAL ADULT · 2019 REVIEW
≤ 800 wpm
Top lab speed with comprehension
UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring Report notes that the fastest confirmed English reading speed with comprehension, under lab conditions, is no more than 800 words a minute.
FASTEST CONFIRMED · UNESCO GEM
The GEM Report adds that reading speed rises until school-leaving age, begins a slow decline around age 40 and is about 10% lower by 70, largely because of changes in vision.
WHAT ACTUALLY HELPS
Read well first,
speed follows.
These points come from the 2016 review of speed-reading research. None of them promise miracles, which is rather the point.
Step 1
Build vocabulary
Language skill drives reading speed. Practising reading and learning more words is the best route to reading faster while still understanding.
Step 2
Let your eyes move
Sharp vision covers only a small central area, so eyes must move along the line. Claims of taking in whole lines or pages at once do not fit how vision works.
Step 3
Allow yourself to reread
About 10 to 15% of eye movements go backwards, mostly to fix misunderstandings. Methods that block rereading can make understanding harder.
Step 4
Skim on purpose
Skimming is useful for finding a fact or getting the gist. For anything that matters, read at your normal pace.
ONE WORD AT A TIME
Why speed-reading apps
can backfire.
Some apps flash text one word at a time in the same spot, a method called rapid serial visual presentation. The 2016 review notes that this removes the chance to preview upcoming words and to look back.
The authors argue this makes misreading more likely, especially when the text is less predictable. They also found that silent reading uses inner speech, and that suppressing it tends to hurt understanding of complex text.
Questions
Questions on the way
What is the average reading speed?
A 2019 review of 190 studies estimated typical adult silent reading of English non-fiction at 238 words a minute and fiction at 260. Most adults fall between 175 and 300 words a minute for non-fiction.
Is 300 words a minute normal?
It is often quoted, but the 2019 review argued it is an overestimate and unrealistic as a target for most people.
Does speed reading work?
A 2016 review found a trade-off between speed and accuracy. Readers are unlikely to double or triple their speed and still understand the text as well.
How fast can anyone read with understanding?
UNESCO's GEM Report says the fastest confirmed English reading speed with comprehension, in lab conditions, is no more than 800 words a minute.
Does reading speed change with age?
It rises through school, begins a slow decline around age 40 and is about 10% lower by 70, largely due to changes in vision, according to the GEM Report.
Destination
Where the facts come from
- How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate (2019)
- British Psychological Society Research Digest: average reading speed is slower than previously thought
- Psychological Science in the Public Interest: So much to read, so little time (2016)
- UNESCO GEM Report SCOPE: Does reading speed matter?
Updated