Average Word Length Calculator

About this calculator

Average word length — total letters divided by total word count — is one of the simplest measurable properties of a piece of text, and it's a building block for several established readability formulas, including the Automated Readability Index and Coleman-Liau Index, both of which use average word (character) length alongside sentence length to estimate how difficult a text is to read.

This calculator strips a pasted text down to its letters and words and reports the average. It's used by writers, editors, and content teams checking whether their prose leans toward short, punchy words or longer, more complex vocabulary, by students and linguists comparing writing samples, and as an input for readability scoring when evaluating text meant for a general or young audience.