What Is a Good Reading Speed?

One Page a Minute Is Slightly Above Average

A standard page has about 250 words on it, making one page a minute roughly equivalent to 250 words per minute. The adult average is about 238 WPM. A page a minute sits just above average, so it's definitely a good reading speed!

Most people asking themselves this question already have their own number. A speed test told them a couple of minutes ago, and next up they want a verdict on it. That verdict is almost always the same: fine. The table below lets you find your row without converting anything between the different metrics used to measure reading speed. For the reference behind every row, check out What Is the Average Reading Speed → next.

The Verdict Bands

Find the row your own reading speed falls into and read across. Pages assume roughly 250 words each. For what the two units (WPM and PPM) measure and when to use each one, take a look at PPM vs WPM explained →.

The 175-300 band is the range Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis reports for adults reading nonfiction silently in English, so it fits most readers. The two rows above Fast are where the speed starts costing something (more on that below).

Why "Good" and "Fast" Are Not the Same Question

"Fast" is a measurement (words divided by minutes). "Good" is a judgement about whether the reading did the job you needed it to do.

The two come apart constantly. A reader at 400 words per minute who finishes nothing and remembers little is worse off than a reader at 180 WPM who finishes the book and can still use the retained content a year later. Speed is only one input into that outcome. To go deeper into retention, take a look at: How to Actually Absorb What You Read →.

The Numbers That Should Make You Suspicious

Comprehension holds up reasonably well up to around 400 words per minute and then drops off abruptly above it. Rates of 1,000 words a minute and beyond are reached by skipping text (not necessarily by reading it faster). That is skimming – a real skill. You can use it when you're deciding whether a book is worth your time or finding the chapter you can only somewhat remember. It isn't reading per se, so it's not a "real" reading speed.

The Two Variables That Beat Speed

The first thing that moves a reading year more than WPM is comprehension, which the table doesn't show. The only check you can do after reading is: can you summarize the chapter without looking at it again?

The second is frequency, and it has a much larger effect. A below-average reader who reads twenty minutes a day finishes roughly three times as many books in a year as a fast reader who only reads on Sundays. The math behind it is in How to Read More Without Speed Reading →. Whichever row you're in, that's the biggest lever.

When a Slower Speed Is the Right Answer

Some reading sessions should be slow. In those cases, a low number is proof that the reading is working – an argument worth keeping in mind. Think technical texts where a missed line can cost you the next page, a book in a second language, or anything you plan to act on later (rather than just finishing): documentation, a contract, a chapter you're taking notes from.

Measure your speed on a normal text, then expect it to drop on hard books, and stop seeing the drop as a failure. You're still the same reader, meeting a different text. Related to this argument, check out: Am I a Slow Reader →.

Find Your Row, Then Stop Checking It

A good reading speed is the pace at which you still understand what you read and still come back tomorrow. For almost everyone who asks themselves this question, the number they arrived with already qualifies. The next move is to stop measuring it.

If you arrived here without a number at all, How Fast Do You Read → is where to get one.