Average audiobook length
A typical audiobook is about 8.5 to 11 hours long. That is how long most adult novels (80,000 to 100,000 words) take to read aloud at a normal narration pace of around 155 words a minute. Shorter books run a few hours, and long fantasy series entries can take 40 hours or more.
Average audiobook length by type of book
Worked out from typical word counts for each kind of book, at about 155 words a minute:
| Type of book | Typical words | Audiobook length | At 1.5x |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novella | 20k to 40k | 2h 09m to 4h 18m | 1h 26m to 2h 52m |
| Middle-grade novel | 30k to 55k | 3h 14m to 5h 55m | 2h 09m to 3h 57m |
| Young adult novel | 60k to 80k | 6h 27m to 8h 36m | 4h 18m to 5h 44m |
| Adult novel (most genres) | 80k to 100k | 8h 36m to 10h 45m | 5h 44m to 7h 10m |
| Non-fiction book | 50k to 80k | 5h 23m to 8h 36m | 3h 35m to 5h 44m |
| Fantasy or science fiction | 100k to 130k | 10h 45m to 13h 59m | 7h 10m to 9h 19m |
| Epic fantasy | 200k to 400k | 21h 30m to 43h 01m | 14h 20m to 28h 40m |
At 1.5x the time drops by a third. Word counts are typical publishing ranges, so a given book can be shorter or longer.
For real examples, see the audiobook length pages: Project Hail Mary runs 16 hours 10 minutes, The Hobbit 10 hours 25 minutes, and Wind and Truth over 62 hours.
How to work out an audiobook’s length
Audiobook length is roughly the word count divided by the narrator’s pace. At 155 words a minute, 93,000 words is 600 minutes, or 10 hours. Faster narrators shorten that; slower, dramatic readings lengthen it. To go the other way, from hours to pages, use the audiobook time to page calculator.
How long will it take you?
Listening at 1.25x to 1.5x cuts a 10-hour audiobook to 6 hours 40 minutes to 8 hours. Put your book’s length into the audiobook calculator to see the time at your speed and the date you will finish at your daily pace.
Paste any playlist link into the playlist length calculator: total time at every speed, a finish date and every video sorted by length.
Questions
What is the average length of an audiobook?
Most adult novels are about 80,000 to 100,000 words. Read aloud at a typical 150 to 160 words a minute, that comes to roughly 8.5 to 11 hours, which is where a typical audiobook lands. Shorter books and novellas run 2 to 5 hours; long fantasy can pass 40 hours.
How long is an audiobook at 1.5x speed?
Divide the length by 1.5. A 10-hour audiobook takes 6 hours 40 minutes at 1.5x and 5 hours at 2x. The audiobook calculator does this for any length.
How many words is a one-hour audiobook?
About 9,000 to 9,600 words, at a normal narration pace of 150 to 160 words a minute.
Why do two editions of the same book have different lengths?
Different narrators read at different speeds, and some editions are abridged (shortened). Always check the length of the edition you are listening to.