How fast do you read?

19 Apr 2019

As someone who loves reading books as a hobby, I have always wondered if I’m able to read at a good enough speed or not. I’ve friends who claim to finish a 200 page book in 4 hours. In terms of words, assuming each line would be ~ 10 words and each page would be ~ 35-40 lines, it translates to ~350-400 words per minute.

With all the interruptions and distractions, I have never been able to sit for 4-5 hours in one go and finish a book (IIRC). This is equivalent of being able to finish a book every weekend (one of the days over the weekend rather) and 4-5 hours is something you can always trade with your family, spouse amidst all commitments of time to her and children. So, no doubt I envied the friend claiming this.

Today, came across following stats while browsing:

The average adult reading speed is between 200 and 300 words per minute (same reading speed you want to achieve by 6th grade).

For success in college you should be able to read 350 to 450 words per minute if you want to have any extra time.

Speeds above 575 words per minute are typical for successful high level executives and people who enjoy reading.

Reading in itself comprises of two things -

• Speed (words per minutes)
• Comprehension (how much do you understand and retain in short term, from page to page)

There are lot of good resources on measuring your current reading speed alongwith comprehension. This is one such site (no affiliation. feel free to google and find more options). My current reading speed is less than the average with a high comprehension.

Note that Comprehension is more important than the Speed in reading. So, always value the former.

But it kind of proves that the claim from the friend about 200 pages in 4 hours was not a puffery claim! :-)

Happy Reading!