What is the average human reaction time?

About 273 ms for a simple visual stimulus, with a standard deviation near 60 ms. Trained gamers average ~230 ms; elite competitors reach 160–180 ms.

What's a genuinely good reaction time?

Under 240 ms is above average, under 200 ms is excellent, and consistent sub-180 ms averages are elite territory. Every 5 ms step has its own verdict page above.

Can reaction time be improved?

Yes — typically 10–15% in 4–6 weeks with short daily sessions. The how-to-improve guide covers the method; sleep is the biggest single lever.

Reaction time, explained and measured

The average adult reacts to a visual stimulus in about 273 ms. Everything interesting lives in the deviations — how you compare, how age bends the curve, what the top percentiles demand, and how much training can move your number. This hub maps all of it.

Start here

⚡ Reaction time test

Measure your average in a 30-second duel — five real rounds, milliseconds counted, opponent included.

📈 How to improve reaction time

The training method that works: short daily sessions, sleep, and honest measurement. 10–15% in 4–6 weeks.

📊 Reaction time vs age

The full curve from 5 to 80: why speed peaks at 24 and what the decline really looks like.

🎮 Reaction time for gamers

What pros actually test (160–200 ms), what each genre demands, and where raw speed stops mattering.

Is your reaction time good? Every verdict

Pick your milliseconds — each page computes your percentile, compares you to F1 drivers, esports pros and the population, and tells you exactly what the number means:

100 ms 101 ms 102 ms 103 ms 104 ms 105 ms 106 ms 107 ms 108 ms 109 ms 110 ms 111 ms 112 ms 113 ms 114 ms 115 ms 116 ms 117 ms 118 ms 119 ms 120 ms 121 ms 122 ms 123 ms 124 ms 125 ms 126 ms 127 ms 128 ms 129 ms 130 ms 131 ms 132 ms 133 ms 134 ms 135 ms 136 ms 137 ms 138 ms 139 ms 140 ms 141 ms 142 ms 143 ms 144 ms 145 ms 146 ms 147 ms 148 ms 149 ms 150 ms 151 ms 152 ms 153 ms 154 ms 155 ms 156 ms 157 ms 158 ms 159 ms 160 ms 161 ms 162 ms 163 ms 164 ms 165 ms 166 ms 167 ms 168 ms 169 ms 170 ms 171 ms 172 ms 173 ms 174 ms 175 ms 176 ms 177 ms 178 ms 179 ms 180 ms 181 ms 182 ms 183 ms 184 ms 185 ms 186 ms 187 ms 188 ms 189 ms 190 ms 191 ms 192 ms 193 ms 194 ms 195 ms 196 ms 197 ms 198 ms 199 ms 200 ms 201 ms 202 ms 203 ms 204 ms 205 ms 206 ms 207 ms 208 ms 209 ms 210 ms 211 ms 212 ms 213 ms 214 ms 215 ms 216 ms 217 ms 218 ms 219 ms 220 ms 221 ms 222 ms 223 ms 224 ms 225 ms 226 ms 227 ms 228 ms 229 ms 230 ms 231 ms 232 ms 233 ms 234 ms 235 ms 236 ms 237 ms 238 ms 239 ms 240 ms 241 ms 242 ms 243 ms 244 ms 245 ms 246 ms 247 ms 248 ms 249 ms 250 ms 251 ms 252 ms 253 ms 254 ms 255 ms 256 ms 257 ms 258 ms 259 ms 260 ms 261 ms 262 ms 263 ms 264 ms 265 ms 266 ms 267 ms 268 ms 269 ms 270 ms 271 ms 272 ms 273 ms 274 ms 275 ms 276 ms 277 ms 278 ms 279 ms 280 ms 281 ms 282 ms 283 ms 284 ms 285 ms 286 ms 287 ms 288 ms 289 ms 290 ms 291 ms 292 ms 293 ms 294 ms 295 ms 296 ms 297 ms 298 ms 299 ms 300 ms 301 ms 302 ms 303 ms 304 ms 305 ms 306 ms 307 ms 308 ms 309 ms 310 ms 311 ms 312 ms 313 ms 314 ms 315 ms 316 ms 317 ms 318 ms 319 ms 320 ms 321 ms 322 ms 323 ms 324 ms 325 ms 326 ms 327 ms 328 ms 329 ms 330 ms 331 ms 332 ms 333 ms 334 ms 335 ms 336 ms 337 ms 338 ms 339 ms 340 ms 341 ms 342 ms 343 ms 344 ms 345 ms 346 ms 347 ms 348 ms 349 ms 350 ms 351 ms 352 ms 353 ms 354 ms 355 ms 356 ms 357 ms 358 ms 359 ms 360 ms 361 ms 362 ms 363 ms 364 ms 365 ms 366 ms 367 ms 368 ms 369 ms 370 ms 371 ms 372 ms 373 ms 374 ms 375 ms 376 ms 377 ms 378 ms 379 ms 380 ms 381 ms 382 ms 383 ms 384 ms 385 ms 386 ms 387 ms 388 ms 389 ms 390 ms 391 ms 392 ms 393 ms 394 ms 395 ms 396 ms 397 ms 398 ms 399 ms 400 ms 401 ms 402 ms 403 ms 404 ms 405 ms 406 ms 407 ms 408 ms 409 ms 410 ms 411 ms 412 ms 413 ms 414 ms 415 ms 416 ms 417 ms 418 ms 419 ms 420 ms 421 ms 422 ms 423 ms 424 ms 425 ms 426 ms 427 ms 428 ms 429 ms 430 ms 431 ms 432 ms 433 ms 434 ms 435 ms 436 ms 437 ms 438 ms 439 ms 440 ms 441 ms 442 ms 443 ms 444 ms 445 ms 446 ms 447 ms 448 ms 449 ms 450 ms 451 ms 452 ms 453 ms 454 ms 455 ms 456 ms 457 ms 458 ms 459 ms 460 ms 461 ms 462 ms 463 ms 464 ms 465 ms 466 ms 467 ms 468 ms 469 ms 470 ms 471 ms 472 ms 473 ms 474 ms 475 ms 476 ms 477 ms 478 ms 479 ms 480 ms 481 ms 482 ms 483 ms 484 ms 485 ms 486 ms 487 ms 488 ms 489 ms 490 ms 491 ms 492 ms 493 ms 494 ms 495 ms 496 ms 497 ms 498 ms 499 ms 500 ms

Average reaction time by age

Every age from 5 to 80, with the expected average and how to beat it:

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Percentile thresholds

What reaction time puts you in the top P% of humans — every cutoff computed from the distribution:

1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 16% 17% 18% 19% 20% 21% 22% 23% 24% 25% 26% 27% 28% 29% 30% 31% 32% 33% 34% 35% 36% 37% 38% 39% 40% 41% 42% 43% 44% 45% 46% 47% 48% 49% 50% 51% 52% 53% 54% 55% 56% 57% 58% 59% 60% 61% 62% 63% 64% 65% 66% 67% 68% 69% 70% 71% 72% 73% 74% 75% 76% 77% 78% 79% 80% 81% 82% 83% 84% 85% 86% 87% 88% 89% 90% 91% 92% 93% 94% 95% 96% 97% 98% 99%

The games behind the numbers

Reaction time is measured here through play: the Reflex duel (tap when green, against a rival), the solo Reaction test with its world leaderboard, and seven other mini-games that stress the rest of your fast-twitch stack. Compare test formats on the Human Benchmark comparison.