Average reaction time

What counts as reaction time

Reaction time is the delay between a signal and your response to it. Researchers separate three kinds: simple reaction (one signal, one response), recognition reaction (respond to some signals and ignore others) and choice reaction (each signal has its own response).³ Unless we say otherwise, the numbers on this page are simple reactions to something you see, like our main test.

Reaction time by age

These averages come from one lab study that measured its own equipment delay and split 1,469 adults into seven age groups.²

Everyone used the same gaming mouse and 60 Hz screen, which the authors measured adding about 18 ms.² Age bands are shown as printed in the study, where 51 appears twice. A UK survey of 7,130 adults found the same shape: simple reaction time barely slows until around 50, while choice reaction time slows throughout adult life.⁴

Sight, sound and choice

For about 120 years, the accepted lab figures for college-age people have been about 190 ms for a light and about 160 ms for a sound.³ One possible reason: a sound reaches the brain in 8 to 10 ms, a visual signal in 20 to 40 ms.³

Choice is slowest. When each signal needs a different response, every extra option adds time, though less with each one you add (Hick’s law).³ In one classic comparison, simple reactions averaged 220 ms, and recognition reactions, where you respond to one signal and ignore the rest, 384 ms. Choice reactions are slower still.³

Web, lab and game numbers

The same person scores differently depending on the equipment. Screens take time to show a change and mice take time to report a click: in one carefully tuned lab, the screen added 11.0 ms and the gaming mouse 6.8 ms.² On other setups, the same paper notes, screen and input delays together can add up to 100 ms.² In a game you also have to spot the target, decide and aim, so in-game reactions are slower still. We haven’t found a reliable average for them.

The 100 ms line

Sprinting draws the line at 100 ms: when the start system measures a reaction time of less than 0.100 second, it signals a possible false start.⁶ Among 425 sprinters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, no valid start fell between 100 and 117 ms, and the quickest was 118 ms.⁷ At a 99.9% confidence level, the researchers put the fastest possible starts at 109 ms for men and 121 ms for women.⁷

That’s why our tests treat anything under 100 ms as a guess. We don’t quote records from online leaderboards: a lucky guess looks exactly like a fast reaction.

F1 drivers and sprinters

Formula 1 says drivers launch their cars on average 0.2 seconds after the lights go out.⁸ That includes feeding out the clutch, not just seeing the lights. A sprint reaction time runs from the gun until the push on the starting blocks passes a set force.⁷ Neither is a click on a screen, so treat them as loose company for your score, not a target.

Gamers

We couldn’t find a trustworthy average for gamers or pro players; the figures shared online don’t trace back to a study. What research does show is a difference between groups.