Guide / Updated November 7, 2026
What is the average reaction time?
In a study of 1,469 adults aged 18 to 65, mean simple visual reaction time was about 231 ms, or about 213 ms after correcting for measured hardware delay. There is no single average, because results depend on the people, the task and the equipment.
Published figures
| People and task | Equipment | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,469 adults aged 18 to 65, New Zealand. Simple visual task. | PC, 60 Hz LCD, gaming mouse | Mean 231 ms. About 213 ms after hardware correction. | Woods et al., 2015 |
| 189 adults aged 18 to 82, in a second lab. Simple visual task. | Same PC, display and mouse. Similar task, with wider stimulus intervals and fewer trials. | Mean 238 ms before hardware correction. | Woods et al., 2015 |
| Visitors who chose to submit results on one website. Self-selected, not a controlled sample. | Their own devices | Median 294 ms from more than 9,000 results. Middle half 244 to 362 ms. | TestReaction, checked November 7, 2026 |
These rows are not directly comparable. They use different people, equipment and statistics. A mean and a median also answer different questions.
Why online and lab results can differ
A browser test includes your mouse or touchscreen, operating system, browser and display. In the study above, the researchers measured about 18 ms of delay from their monitor and mouse, then subtracted it to estimate true reaction time. They also note that hardware and software delays are one reason results differ between labs.
Browsers can time responses well, but not uniformly. A 2020 timing study found that most online packages reached a response-time precision under 10 ms in every browser tested, using a high-performance button box, with considerable variation between browser and system combinations. Your own keyboard, mouse or touchscreen adds more. A second study found no platform best in every condition. Its realistic keyboard setups recorded response times with an average lag of about 80 ms, so neither study establishes millisecond accuracy for this test.
Our score does not subtract any hardware delay, because a website cannot measure yours. See how we measure.
How age changes reaction time
In the same study, the youngest group averaged about 218 ms and the oldest about 239 ms. Reaction time rose by about 0.55 ms per year between 18 and 65, and the authors describe the effect of age as relatively small. A second experiment across ages 18 to 82 found a similar slope of about 0.45 ms per year. They found no significant difference by sex or education in the main experiment.
These are group trends from a simple lab task. They cannot tell you whether your score is healthy. This test is not a medical assessment, so if you notice a sudden change in your reactions or coordination, speak to a medical professional.
What counts as a good reaction time?
Start with your own baseline. Run the test several times on the same setup, then compare your median and consistency. Our tiers below are a plain guide that we chose, not a ranking against other people.
| Median | Tier |
|---|---|
| Under 200 ms | Instant |
| 200 to 249 ms | Sharp |
| 250 to 299 ms | Solid |
| 300 to 349 ms | Typical |
| 350 ms or more | Warming up |
Is 200 ms good? On this test it sits at the start of our Sharp tier. For comparison, it is faster than the 231 ms lab mean above, but that study used different equipment, so treat this as context and not a verdict.
Sources
- Woods DL, Wyma JM, Yund EW, Herron TJ, Reed B. Factors influencing the latency of simple reaction time. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2015.
- Bridges D, Pitiot A, MacAskill MR, Peirce JW. The timing mega-study. PeerJ, 2020.
- Anwyl-Irvine A, Dalmaijer ES, Hodges N, Evershed JK. Realistic precision and accuracy of online experiment platforms, web browsers, and devices. Behavior Research Methods, 2021. Some authors work for an online experiment company.
- TestReaction results table. Website data, not peer reviewed.