The average reading speed for adults is about 300 words per minute (wpm), but many people can read much more quickly than that. According to one survey, the average college student reads about 450 wpm, and college professors can read 675 words in the same amount of time. As of 2012, the world speed reading record was 4,700 wpm. Audiobook readers generally are advised to keep their reading speed to about 150 wpm so that their listeners can understand them.
More about reading speed:
- In the US, the average third-grader, typically about 8 years old, reads about 150 wpm.
- At least two US presidents, John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, were speed readers.
- Critics of speed reading argue that its techniques lead people to skim text rather than actually read it.