Readability Score Calculator
Is your writing clear and effective? Paste your text below to get an instant Flesch-Kincaid analysis. Improve your content for better engagement, accessibility, and SEO performance.
Your Readability Results
Understanding Your Readability Scores
Our tool provides two industry-standard metrics to help you refine your writing. Here’s what they mean and what you should aim for.
Flesch Reading Ease
This scores your text on a 100-point scale. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand. For most web content, a score of 60-70 is ideal, as it's easily understood by the average adult (8th to 9th grade level).
| Score | School Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | 5th grade | Very easy to read. Easily understood by an average 11-year-old student. |
| 80–89 | 6th grade | Easy to read. Conversational English for consumers. |
| 70–79 | 7th grade | Fairly easy to read. |
| 60–69 | 8th & 9th grade | Plain English. Easily understood by 13- to 15-year-old students. (Ideal for web) |
| 50–59 | 10th to 12th grade | Fairly difficult to read. |
| 30–49 | College | Difficult to read. |
| 0–29 | College graduate | Very difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates. |
Formula: $206.835 - 1.015 \times (\frac{\text{Total Words}}{\text{Total Sentences}}) - 84.6 \times (\frac{\text{Total Syllables}}{\text{Total Words}})$
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
This score translates the Reading Ease score to a U.S. school grade level. A score of 8.0 means an eighth-grader can understand the text. For broad public consumption, aim for a score between 7.0 and 8.0.
Formula: $0.39 \times (\frac{\text{Total Words}}{\text{Total Sentences}}) + 11.8 \times (\frac{\text{Total Syllables}}{\text{Total Words}}) - 15.59$
Why Readability Matters for SEO & Engagement
In a world of short attention spans, clarity is king. If your message is hard to understand, you lose readers, customers, and credibility. Improving your content's readability helps you:
- Boost SEO Rankings: Google rewards content that provides a great user experience. Readable content keeps users on your page longer, reducing bounce rates and signaling quality to search engines.
- Increase Audience Engagement: When your writing is easy to digest, your audience is more likely to read, understand, and act on your message, leading to higher conversion rates.
- Reach a Wider Audience: Writing at a 7th-8th grade level ensures your content is accessible to about 85% of the general public, expanding your potential reach.
- Build Trust and Authority: Clear and concise communication is a sign of expertise. It shows you understand your topic well enough to explain it simply.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good readability score for SEO?
Aim for a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60-70 and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 7-8. This range makes your content accessible, which correlates with better user engagement metrics that Google values.
Is my text private?
Yes, 100% private. This tool processes all calculations directly in your browser (client-side). Your text never leaves your device and is never stored on our servers. You can use it with complete confidence.
Does Google use readability as a direct ranking factor?
While not a direct, confirmed ranking factor, readability is crucial for user experience (UX), which Google values highly. Good readability reduces bounce rates and increases dwell time—strong indirect signals that can positively impact your rankings.
Does this tool check for grammar or spelling?
This is a specialized readability checker and does not analyze grammar or spelling. It focuses solely on the structural complexity of your words and sentences. We recommend using a dedicated grammar checker for that purpose.