Skip to content
ToolQivo

Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

Get the US school grade level your text requires.

Text Tools Reviews Free · no sign-up

Developed for the US Navy in 1975 to check that technical manuals matched the reading level of the people using them. It is the measure Microsoft Word reports.

—

US school grade level

Your longest sentences

  • Paste some text to see them.

Quick Tool Overview

The Flesch-Kincaid Calculator returns a US school grade level — the measure Microsoft Word reports and most content tools embed, which makes it the common language for discussing readability. A result of 8.0 means an average eighth-grader can read your text.

What it does
Calculates the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
You give it
A hundred words or more
You get back
A US grade level with the working shown
Best for
Setting and hitting a target reading grade
Text Tools Free, unlimited use No sign-up Runs in your browser

About the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level was developed for the US Navy in 1975 to work out whether technical manuals could be read by the people who had to use them. It rearranges Flesch's original formula to produce a school grade instead of a 0 to 100 score, which is far easier to act on: a result of 8.0 means an average eighth-grader can read the text.

It is the most widely embedded readability measure in software — Microsoft Word reports it, as do most content tools — which makes it the default common language for discussing readability. Like Flesch Reading Ease it uses only sentence length and syllables per word, so the same caveats apply, and the same two levers are available when you want to bring the number down.

Key features of the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

Target grade comparison

Enter the grade you are aiming for and see how far off you are and why.

Both inputs displayed

Words per sentence and syllables per word, which are the only two things driving the result.

Relationship to Reading Ease explained

The two formulas share inputs and run in opposite directions — the page says how they map.

Explains small differences

Why Word may report a slightly different figure, and why a few tenths of a grade does not matter.

Guidance by audience

What grade general web content, health information and specialist writing should target.

How to use the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

  1. 1

    Paste your text

    At least a hundred words for a stable result.

  2. 2

    Read the grade level

    A US school grade — 8.0 means an average eighth-grader can read it.

  3. 3

    Check the two inputs

    Words per sentence and syllables per word are shown, since those drive the whole result.

  4. 4

    Compare against your target

    Enter the grade you are aiming for and the tool says how far off you are and why.

Frequently asked questions

0.39 times the average words per sentence, plus 11.8 times the average syllables per word, minus 15.59. The result is a US school grade level.

Reviews of the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator

What people who use the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator think of it. Reviews come from visitors and are posted as written.

No ratings yet

Yours would be the first.

  • 5 0 reviews rated 5 stars
  • 4 0 reviews rated 4 stars
  • 3 0 reviews rated 3 stars
  • 2 0 reviews rated 2 stars
  • 1 0 reviews rated 1 star

Write a review

Used this tool? Your rating helps the next person decide.

Your rating

Plain text only — links, email addresses and HTML are not accepted. Your name and review are shown publicly; nothing else is collected. See the privacy policy.

0 reviews

Newest first

No reviews yet

Be the first to rate the Flesch-Kincaid Calculator. It takes half a minute and no account.

Write the first review

More text tools