How fast can you read?

How this test works

The test runs in a simulator of the readerr reader. Words appear one at a time in the same spot, with a highlighted letter that shows exactly where to look — so your eyes don’t have to move at all. You start at 300 words per minute and steer the speed as you read: +50 when it feels easy, −50 when it’s too fast. Your result is your average speed over the last stretch of reading — the pace you settled on.

Speeds use the same rules as the app, including a short extra pause on the last word of each sentence, so you can set readerr to your result and start reading right away.

What is an average reading speed?

A large review of 190 studies with nearly 18,000 participants found that adults read English non-fiction silently at about 238 words per minute on average, and fiction at about 260. Most adults fall somewhere between roughly 175 and 300 words per minute when reading a normal page.

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. This test measures one-word-at-a-time reading, which is different from reading a page — the comparison shows how far beyond a typical page pace you can follow.

Why one word at a time?

• No eye movement. On a page, your eyes make several jumps per line and land a little off target. Here the words come to you.
• No skipping back. While reading a page, your eyes regularly jump back to words they have already passed. With one word at a time, you keep moving forward.
• A fixed focus point. The highlighted letter sits about a third into each word, so your eye always knows where to land.

Want to read your own text this way? Try the free online speed reader, or get readerr for iPhone and iPad.

Questions