Text Statistics - Word Count, Reading Time & More

What does this tool count?

Paste any text and instantly see character count (with and without spaces), word count, sentence count, paragraph count, line count, unique word count, average word and sentence length, the longest word, and estimated reading and speaking times.

How is reading time estimated?

Reading time is calculated at 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for an adult. Speaking time is calculated at 130 words per minute, a comfortable presentation pace.

How are sentences counted?

A sentence boundary is detected wherever a period, exclamation mark, or question mark appears. Abbreviations may cause slight over-counting in some texts.

How are paragraphs counted?

Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines (double newlines). Single line breaks within a block do not start a new paragraph.

Flesch Reading Ease

The Flesch Reading Ease formula provides a numeric score indicating how difficult a passage of English text is to understand:

Score = 206.835 − (1.015 × average sentence length) − (84.6 × average syllables per word)

Higher scores indicate material that is easier to read. A score of 60–70 is considered "plain English" - roughly 8th-grade level. Legal documents often score below 30; children's books above 90.

Grade level note

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula converts the Reading Ease score into a US grade level equivalent. It is widely used in:

• Legal and government writing: plain-language laws in several US states require documents below a specific Flesch-Kincaid grade level.
• Publishing: children's publishers specify maximum grade levels for manuscripts.
• Healthcare communications: patient-facing materials are typically required to be at or below an 8th-grade reading level for broad accessibility.