Words to Minutes Calculator
Minutes = words ÷ words per minute: 1,000 words take about 4 min 12 s to read silently at 238 words per minute, and about 5 min 28 s to read aloud at 183.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server. Sources: Journal of Memory and Language (2019) Updated
Silent reading at 238 words per minute
4 min 12 s
Speaking at 183 words per minute
5 min 28 s
1,000 words. In decimal minutes: 4.20 reading, 5.46 speaking.
Words to minutes formula
minutes = words ÷ words per minute
The calculator divides the number of words by each of the two speeds, then shows the answer in minutes and seconds, rounded to the nearest second. To go the other way, multiply: words = minutes × words per minute.
If you paste text, the tool counts its words and fills in the number for you. You can also type a number of words directly. For a document with headings and lists, the letter counter also gives the sentences, paragraphs and characters.
How many minutes is 1,000 words?
A 1,000-word article, at the default speeds:
- Silent reading: 1,000 ÷ 238 = 4.20 minutes. The 0.20 of a minute is 12 seconds, so 4 min 12 s.
- Speaking: 1,000 ÷ 183 = 5.46 minutes. The 0.46 of a minute is 28 seconds, so 5 min 28 s.
Reading and speaking time for common word counts
This table uses the two speeds set in the calculator, so it changes when you change them.
| Words | Silent reading (238 wpm) | Speaking (183 wpm) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 25 s | 33 s |
| 250 | 1 min 3 s | 1 min 22 s |
| 500 | 2 min 6 s | 2 min 44 s |
| 750 | 3 min 9 s | 4 min 6 s |
| 1,000 | 4 min 12 s | 5 min 28 s |
| 1,500 | 6 min 18 s | 8 min 12 s |
| 2,000 | 8 min 24 s | 10 min 56 s |
| 2,500 | 10 min 30 s | 13 min 40 s |
| 5,000 | 21 min 1 s | 27 min 19 s |
| 10,000 | 42 min 1 s | 54 min 39 s |
Average reading speed and speaking speed
Both speeds are inputs because no single figure fits everyone. The defaults come from a 2019 review that pooled 190 studies of silent reading with 18,573 participants, and 77 studies of reading aloud with 5,965 participants. Its estimates for adults reading English:
- 238 words per minute for silent reading of non-fiction, and 260 for fiction.
- 183 words per minute for reading aloud.
- Most adults read non-fiction silently at between 175 and 300 words per minute.
The review also found lower rates for children, older adults and people reading English as a second language.
The 183 figure is for reading a text aloud. A talk given from notes, with pauses and time for slides, is a different task and we have no sourced figure for it. If your result needs to be accurate, measure your own speed: time one minute of speaking, count the words, and enter that number.
How words are counted
Pasted text is split at spaces, tabs and line breaks. Every piece between them counts as one word, whatever its length. A text full of long technical terms and a text of short words can have the same count and still take different times to read, which is one more reason to treat the result as an estimate.
To bring a talk under time, cut words. The synonym generator can suggest a shorter word for a long one, and the other text tools help with case, sorting and counting.
Words to Minutes Calculator: FAQ
How many minutes is 1,000 words?
How many words do I need for a 5-minute speech?
Where do the default speeds come from?
How do I find my own speed?
How are the words counted?
Sources
- M. Brysbaert, How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate, Journal of Memory and Language 109 (2019), article 104047 (checked October 12, 2026)
- Free preprint of the same paper on PsyArXiv; the figures on this page are taken from its abstract (checked October 12, 2026)