How Many Words Is a YouTube Video? Word Counts by Length

Across 3,923 English YouTube videos whose captions we stored, the median is 178 words per minute of finished video, and the middle half ran between 154 and 201. A 10-minute video is about 1,810 words, a 5-minute video about 845, and a 30-second video about 108. Each length below uses its own band's median pace rather than one site-wide pace, because shorter videos in the sample run denser per minute than long ones. Pick a length for its word table, timed section plan and pacing checks.

Words per video length

Words to plan around at that length band's own median pace, with the range for the band. Each row opens a page with the full pace table, a timed section plan and the advice for that length.

Video lengthMedian words (band pace)All lengths medianTypical range (band 25th to 75th percentile)
15 seconds544547 to 60
30 seconds1088994 to 120
45 seconds162134141 to 180
1 minute164178123 to 186
2 minutes328356246 to 372
3 minutes480534417 to 558
4 minutes640712556 to 744
5 minutes845890710 to 990
6 minutes1,0141,068852 to 1,188
7 minutes1,1831,246994 to 1,386
8 minutes1,4481,4241,256 to 1,648
9 minutes1,6291,6021,413 to 1,854
10 minutes1,8101,7801,570 to 2,060
11 minutes1,9911,9581,727 to 2,266
12 minutes2,2082,1361,920 to 2,436
13 minutes2,3922,3142,080 to 2,639
14 minutes2,5762,4922,240 to 2,842
15 minutes2,7152,6702,385 to 3,015
18 minutes3,2583,2042,862 to 3,618
20 minutes3,6003,5603,180 to 3,980
25 minutes4,5004,4503,975 to 4,975
30 minutes5,2505,3404,560 to 5,940
40 minutes7,0007,1206,080 to 7,920
45 minutes7,6958,0106,795 to 8,865
60 minutes9,66010,6808,340 to 11,400
90 minutes14,49016,02012,510 to 17,100
120 minutes19,32021,36016,680 to 22,800

Median words is that length band's own median pace applied to the runtime. The all-lengths median column applies the 178 words per minute measured across every video in the sample, which is a comparison rather than the number to plan with: no single pace describes every length, and the band medians here run from 160 to 216 words per minute. The range column is the band's 25th to 75th percentile pace, so it widens where a band's own videos disagreed about pace.

How these numbers are measured

Caption words divided by full video runtime, across 3,923 English-language YouTube videos from 1,434 channels whose published captions Prepublish stored for its transcript pages (collected through 2026-09-30). Runtime includes intros, b-roll and pauses. The sample leans toward popular videos and describes finished videos only, not how they performed.

Words per minute here is caption words divided by the full video runtime, so it answers how many words fill a finished video of that length rather than how fast a host talks. Pauses, intros and b-roll are inside the minute. A word count measured from your own captions is the number to plan with.

Measured pace by video length band

Length bandVideos25th percentile (wpm)Median (wpm)75th percentile (wpm)
Under 1 minute121188216240
1 to 3 minutes103123164186
3 to 5 minutes111139160186
5 to 8 minutes252142169198
8 to 12 minutes546157181206
12 to 15 minutes407160184203
15 to 20 minutes823159181201
20 to 30 minutes753159180199
30 to 45 minutes336152175198
45 to 60 minutes207151171197
Over 60 minutes264139161190

Every number in the tables above is computed from the same source: 3,923 English videos from 1,434 channels, with words per minute as caption words divided by full runtime.

Converting a word count the other way

Already have a draft? The words to minutes calculator converts a word count to a spoken runtime at slow, average and fast paces, and the word counter counts a pasted script. For planning ranges by content style, see how long should a YouTube script be.

Know your target length? Check the script free before you film

Paste the draft below for your hook, structure and pacing scores, plus the single biggest issue quoted from your own lines. Free, no login.

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