Average adult silent reading speed in English is about 238 WPM for nonfiction and 260 WPM for fiction, according to Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies involving 18,573 participants. These are group averages, not personal targets. Read the study.

Reading speed averages, with context

Adult English reading rates reported in Brysbaert (2019)
Type of readingAverage rate
Silent nonfiction238 WPM
Silent fiction260 WPM
Reading aloud183 WPM

The distinction matters: reading aloud and reading silently are different activities. These English-language averages should not be treated as universal benchmarks for children, every language or every kind of text. Study record and abstract at Ghent University.

Is my reading speed good?

Start with the reason you opened the book. If you are reading to understand a new idea, time spent rereading a paragraph may be useful. If you are scanning a timetable, finding one detail may be all you need. A WPM result without that context cannot say whether you achieved your goal.

To get a baseline, try our free reading speed test. Then compare it with a session in your own book. Record the kind of text, the time spent and what you can recall, so you know what each number represents.

Why faster reading can mean less understanding

A 2016 review by Keith Rayner and colleagues describes a trade-off between reading speed and comprehension. Skimming can help when you only need the gist, but large speed increases should not be assumed to preserve detailed understanding. Read the review.

The authors point to reading practice and stronger language skills, including vocabulary, as ways to support more efficient reading. That is different from promising a shortcut to doubling your speed without losing meaning. Research summary from the Association for Psychological Science.

A practical way to compare your reading sessions

The following is a simple self-tracking routine, not a validated training programme:

  1. Use similar material. Compare chapters from the same book or texts with a similar style and purpose.
  2. Time the reading, not the breaks. Pause when interrupted and count only the words you actually read.
  3. Write down what stayed with you. Close the book and recall its main point or the events you just read.
  4. Look across several sessions. Treat an unusually fast or slow result as one observation before drawing a conclusion.

How ReadPace connects WPM with recall

ReadPace is a tracker for physical books. Its timer records reading time, a page scan counts words on your phone, and an optional quiz checks recall of the scanned text. The app groups tested sessions into 25-WPM bands and highlights the band with the highest average recall after at least five tested sessions.

That “reading sweet spot” describes your recorded sessions. It is not a clinical assessment, a universal ideal or a guarantee of improved comprehension. The quiz score is the percentage of its questions you answered correctly.

See how the reading sweet spot works, or use the WPM calculator to measure your next session yourself.

Sources