Human Reading Speed Benchmarks (WPM)
Scientific meta-analyses of adult silent reading speeds (including research by Trauzettel-Klosinski & Dietz, 2012 and Marc Brysbaert, 2019) establish that the average English-speaking adult reads non-technical prose at:
Most publishing platforms (such as Medium, Dev.to, and Substack) standardize their estimated read time algorithms at a constant $200\text{--}225\text{ WPM}$.
The Core Reading Time Formula
Mathematical Equation
Reading Time (Minutes) = (Total Word Count / Words Per Minute (WPM))
To express the result in minutes and seconds:
1
Total Minutes: โ Reading Time โ (the integer floor)
2
Remaining Seconds: (Reading Time - โ Reading Time โ) ร 60
Adjusting for Technical Density, Formulas & Code
Reading dense formulas, code snippets, or statistical tables requires higher cognitive processing and fixations:
Silent Reading vs. Speaking / Presentation Time
If you are preparing a speech, podcast, or slide presentation, you must use speech cadence rather than silent eye-scanning:
Mathematical Equation
Speech Duration = (Word Count / 140 WPM)
A 1,000-word essay requires:
