How To Estimate Reading Time
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The base formula
“5 min read” at the top of an article isn’t just decoration — it sets expectations, improves click-through, and gives readers permission to start. The math is simple (words divided by reading speed) but the details matter: which reading speed, how to count words, how to adjust for images and code blocks, and when to round. This guide covers how publishers like Medium, Substack, and the New York Times compute reading time, the science behind reading-speed averages, and how to handle mixed content correctly.
What counts as a word
A typical adult reading non-technical content reads at ~240 words per minute. Academic studies cluster around 200-300 WPM for adults reading for comprehension (not speed-reading, not skimming).
Adjusting for images
Pick one, use it consistently. 240 WPM is the safe middle ground.
Adjusting for code blocks
Simplest definition: whitespace-separated tokens.
Rounding and display
Contractions: “don’t” = 1 word.
When accuracy matters more
Numbers, punctuation, URLs: each counts as one word if surrounded by spaces.
Non-English content
People don’t read images, but they spend time looking at them. Medium’s algorithm adds ~12 seconds for the first image, decreasing for subsequent ones (3-10s each).
Reading level and complexity
Simple approximation: add 12 seconds per image, capped at maybe 30 seconds total. For articles with heavy visual content, this alone bumps the estimate meaningfully.
Putting reading time where it helps
Alternative approach: ignore images entirely. If your articles are primarily text, the variance per image is small enough not to matter.
Common mistakes
Code reads slower than prose — roughly half the speed. A Stanford study found programmers averaging ~100 WPM reading code vs ~250 WPM reading prose.
Run the numbers
For articles that mix prose and code: