ReactScore
The data

Average Human Reaction Time by Age

How fast is a normal reaction? Short answer: around a quarter of a second, but the useful answer depends on your age, what you are reacting to, and how the test is run. Here is the whole picture by age, with the numbers sourced.

Updated 2026 · sources listed below

The average human reaction time is about 273 ms on an online click test and roughly 200 to 250 ms measured in a lab. It is fastest in your early twenties (~258 ms online) and slows with age, to about 312 ms by your fifties. Age matters more than sex, and a browser adds 10–50 ms of device lag a lab avoids.

Average reaction time by age

Reaction time follows a clear arc across life: it sharpens through childhood, peaks in the early twenties, holds fairly flat through the thirties, then slows steadily. In numbers, on the online scale: teens ~268 ms, twenties ~258 ms (the peak), thirties ~268 ms, forties ~286 ms, fifties ~312 ms, and sixties-plus ~338 ms and up. The full table shows both scales: the lab figure and the online equivalent you would actually see on a web test like ours.

Age bandLab (simple visual)Online testRelative speed
10–14 230 ms 285 ms
15–19 218 ms 268 ms
20–24 213 ms 258 ms
25–34 222 ms 268 ms
35–44 238 ms 286 ms
45–54 268 ms 312 ms
55–64 295 ms 338 ms
65–74 320 ms 362 ms
75+ 355 ms 395 ms
180 240 300 360 420 10–1415–1920–2425–3435–4445–5455–6465–7475+ reaction time (ms) online lab
Average reaction time by age band, on both lab and online (web-test) scales. The dashed line is lab-measured simple reaction; the coloured line is the online equivalent our tool records. Source: MindCrowd / Talboom et al., npj Aging 2021; Der & Deary 2006; Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Sources: MindCrowd (n = 75,666; npj Aging, 2021), the UK Health & Lifestyle Survey, and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Online column shifted to web-test scale for comparison with ReactScore results. Is your own number good? →

Average reaction time by gender

In large datasets men average roughly 30 to 34 ms faster than women on simple visual reaction time. Der & Deary's analysis of the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey (n = 7,130) found that gap holding across adulthood, and it shows up at group level in other big samples too.

The honest framing matters though. It is a difference between averages, and it is small next to the spread between individuals: plenty of women out-react plenty of men, and the gap between a rested and a tired version of the same person is bigger than the sex difference. Age moves the number far more, too. The slowdown from your twenties to your sixties in the table above is about 80 ms, more than double the male-female gap. The full breakdown, including where the difference comes from and what it does not mean, is in reaction time by gender.

Why the average is 273 ms

Across the largest public reaction-time dataset (more than 81 million recorded clicks) the median online result is 273 milliseconds and the mean is 284 ms. Those two numbers differ because the data is skewed: a handful of very slow clicks pull the average up, which is exactly why a median is the honest figure to quote. On lab equipment the same simple visual reaction lands lower, around 200–250 ms, since the lab skips the few dozen milliseconds your monitor and mouse quietly add.

200300400500 median 273 mean 284 online reaction time (ms)
Online reaction times are right-skewed: most people cluster near the 273 ms median, while a long tail of slow clicks pulls the mean up to 284 ms. Source: Human Benchmark public reaction-time dataset (81M+ clicks).

By what you are reacting to

Not all reactions are equal. Sound is processed faster than light, and touch faster still, because of how quickly each sense converts a signal your nerves can carry. The ordering is always the same: tactile, then auditory, then visual.

0 50 100 150 200 Tactile 90–180 ms Auditory 120–180 ms Visual 150–200 ms typical lab reaction time (ms)
Typical lab reaction-time ranges by stimulus. Touch is fastest, then sound, then light, because each sense converts its signal at a different speed. Source: Compiled from simple-reaction-time literature (see references below).
StimulusTypical lab rangeWhy
Tactile (touch) 90–180 ms Fastest: skin mechanoreceptors transduce quickly.
Auditory (sound) 120–180 ms Sound transduces faster than light in the receptor.
Visual (light) 150–200 ms Slowest: phototransduction is the rate-limiting step.

You can feel this yourself: run the audio reaction test and the visual one back to back. Most people are quicker on sound.

By skill level

Practice and genetics both matter. Elite esports players and F1 drivers live in a band most people never reach, not because they are clicking differently, but because years of training shave milliseconds off the decision step in the middle of every reaction.

Elite esports pro 175 ms Pro FPS / fighting-game player 190 ms F1 driver (race start) 200 ms Skilled gamer 215 ms Average adult (online test) 273 ms Casual / occasional 300 ms typical reaction time, web-test scale (ms)
Typical reaction times by skill level on the web-test scale. Elite esports players and F1 drivers sit near the human floor; a typical adult is around 273 ms. Source: Web-relatable ranges compiled from esports, motorsport and population data.
GroupTypical (web scale)
Elite esports pro175 ms
Pro FPS / fighting-game player190 ms
F1 driver (race start)200 ms
Skilled gamer215 ms
Average adult (online test)273 ms
Casual / occasional300 ms

So what is a “normal” reaction time?

If you take one number away, make it this: a typical adult reacts in about 273 ms online, or a touch under a quarter of a second on lab gear. Land under 250 ms on a web test and you are quicker than most people. Under 200 ms and you are in rare company. The best way to find out is to stop reading and take the test, then come back and see where your number sits on these tables.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average human reaction time?
On a standard online click test, the median is about 273 ms and the mean about 284 ms, drawn from 81M+ recorded clicks (Human Benchmark public statistics). Measured on lab hardware, simple visual reaction time is faster (roughly 200–250 ms) because it removes screen and input lag.
What is the average reaction time for a 20-year-old?
Reaction time peaks in the early twenties, so a 20 to 24 year old is the fastest of any age group: about 258 ms on an online click test, or roughly 213 ms on lab hardware.
What is the average reaction time for a 30-year-old?
Through the late twenties and thirties reaction time stays close to the lifetime peak: about 268 ms online (≈222 ms in a lab). The decline is very gradual until the forties.
What is the average reaction time for a 40-year-old?
By the forties reaction time has begun to slow: roughly 286 ms on an online test (≈238 ms lab). Most people barely notice it because the change is only a few milliseconds a year.
What is the average reaction time for a 50-year-old?
In the fifties reaction time slows more clearly, to about 312 ms on an online test (≈268 ms lab). This is normal age-related slowing, not a sign of poor reflexes.
What is the average reaction time for a 15-year-old?
A 15-year-old averages about 268 ms on an online click test (roughly 218 ms on lab hardware). That is already close to the adult peak: reaction time keeps sharpening through the teens and bottoms out at about 258 ms in the early twenties.
What is the average reaction time for a 12-year-old?
Around 285 ms online for the 10 to 14 age band (about 230 ms in a lab). Children are slower than teenagers and young adults because the reaction system is still developing, which is why the lifetime curve is U-shaped rather than a straight decline.
What is the average reaction time for a teenager or child?
Teenagers (15–19) average about 268 ms online, close to the adult peak. Younger children (10–14) are a little slower at around 285 ms because the reaction system is still developing, so the lifetime curve is U-shaped.
At what age is reaction time fastest?
Reaction time peaks in the early twenties (roughly ages 20–24) then slows gradually. By the seventies it is about 50% slower than that youthful peak. Children are slower than young adults, so the curve is U-shaped across a lifetime.
Do men or women have faster reaction times?
In large datasets men average around 30–34 ms faster on simple visual reaction time. It is a real difference between the group averages, but small next to the variation between individuals: plenty of women out-react plenty of men.
Why is online reaction time slower than the textbook number?
A browser test adds 10–50 ms of display and input latency that lab equipment avoids. That is why our tools measure your display and show a device-lag-corrected figure. The methodology page explains exactly how.

Sources