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Text Readability Score Calculator

Work out text readability score instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Text Readability Score Calculator

Flesch Reading Ease is 206.835 - 1.015 x words per sentence - 84.6 x syllables per word. Two hundred and fifty words in fourteen sentences with 410 syllables gives 50.0 - fairly difficult, at grade level 10.7. Plain English guidance targets 60-70, which means roughly fifteen word sentences and mostly one and two syllable words.

Formulas

Flesch Reading Ease

206.835 - 1.015 x (words/sentences) - 84.6 x (syllables/words)

Flesch-Kincaid grade

0.39 x (words/sentences) + 11.8 x (syllables/words) - 15.59

Worked example

With the default values below, Text Readability Score Calculator returns Flesch Reading Ease of 50.0. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Words in the textminimum 1
250
Sentencesminimum 1
14
Syllablesminimum 1
410

Results

Flesch Reading Ease
50.0 /100
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
10.73
Average Sentence Length
17.86 words
Readability Band
Difficult - academic register

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Flesch Reading Ease
  3. 3Flesch-Kincaid grade
  4. 4Flesch Reading Ease= 50.0 /100
  5. 5Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level= 10.73
  6. 6Average Sentence Length= 17.86 words
  7. 7Readability Band= Difficult - academic register

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What score should I aim for?

Around 60-70 for general public communication, which corresponds to about US grade 8-9 reading level. Legal and medical writing often falls below 30.

Can I game the score?

Yes - chopping sentences arbitrarily raises it without improving clarity. The formula measures surface features, not comprehensibility.

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