Direct answer: average reaction time by age
For a simple visual reaction test (click when the screen changes color), a healthy young adult averages roughly 250 milliseconds. That figure holds across most laboratory studies and is the baseline the rest of this page builds on.
Reaction time is fastest in the early-to-mid 20s and slows gradually with age. In Der and Deary's representative British sample of 7,414 adults, simple reaction time peaked around the early 20s, stayed near-flat through the 30s, then slowed steadily after 50. As a rough rule, expect a slowdown of about 2 to 6 milliseconds per decade through midlife, accelerating in later years.
Two caveats decide whether your own number looks 'good': the test type (simple vs. choice reaction time) and your hardware. Web tests on a high-latency monitor and a wireless mouse can add 20 to 50 ms that has nothing to do with your brain. Compare yourself to a percentile for your age, not to a single global number.
Average reaction time by age (table)
The table below shows approximate average simple visual reaction times by age band, synthesized from large representative samples (Der & Deary, 2006) and the broader aging literature. These are simple reaction times; choice reaction tasks run slower and decline faster with age.
Treat these as central tendencies, not cutoffs. Individual variation within any age band dwarfs the difference between bands.
| Age band | Approx. average simple RT | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 10-19 | ~260-270 ms | Still maturing; teens often score near adult levels by mid-teens |
| 20-29 | ~250 ms | Peak performance window (fastest, early-to-mid 20s) |
| 30-39 | ~255-265 ms | Near-flat; decline barely measurable |
| 40-49 | ~265-280 ms | Gradual slowing begins |
| 50-59 | ~280-300 ms | Decline accelerates |
| 60-69 | ~300-330 ms | Roughly 20-30% slower than the 20s peak |
| 70+ | ~330-380 ms | Continued slowing; high individual variation |
Reaction time percentiles: where you actually stand
An average is only half the picture. The same 250 ms can be average for one age and top-tier for another, so percentiles are the honest way to read a score. On a simple visual test, very roughly: ~300 ms and above sits in the slower half, ~250 ms is around the median for young adults, ~220 ms is fast (upper quartile), and sub-200 ms is rare and approaches the floor of human visual reaction (signal transit plus motor execution).
A number below ~120 ms on a simple visual test almost always means you anticipated the cue rather than reacted to it. Genuine visual reaction can't beat the physiological lower bound by much.
Exact percentile thresholds depend on the population tested and the hardware involved, which is why generic tables disagree. The most reliable comparison is against people your age on the same test.
Reaction time by age and gender
Across large samples, men average slightly faster simple reaction times than women. Silverman's meta-analysis of 206 studies found men faster by about 13 milliseconds, and Der and Deary's 7,414-person sample showed men faster on all four reaction measures, with the smallest gap on the simple task.
The honest framing: 13 ms is small. Within-group variation, day-to-day fluctuation, sleep, and hardware latency each swamp it. The gap is real on average but tells you almost nothing about any individual, and some analyses suggest it has narrowed over decades.
Average reaction time for gamers and esports pros
Competitive gamers react faster than non-gamers, but the headline numbers are often exaggerated. A peer-reviewed comparison found esports competitors and traditional athletes both reacted faster than non-competitive peers, with esports players averaging in the high-200s milliseconds on a simple visual task, not the sub-150 ms figures that circulate online.
Elite first-person-shooter pros do post times in the ~150-200 ms range on simple, well-trained reactions, but that reflects heavy task-specific practice, optimized hardware (high-refresh monitors, low-latency peripherals), and anticipation, not a different nervous system. The widely repeated '150 ms average gamer' claim is undersourced; treat it skeptically.
What actually changes your number
Beyond age and sex, a handful of factors move reaction time more than people expect:
- Stimulus type: auditory reactions are faster than visual (sound reaches the motor cortex through a shorter pathway), which is why audio tests read ~30-50 ms quicker than visual ones.
- Task complexity: choice reaction time (decide which of several responses) is slower than simple reaction time and declines faster with age.
- Sleep and fatigue: sleep loss is one of the largest reversible slowers of reaction time.
- Hardware: monitor refresh rate, input lag, and wireless latency can add 20-50 ms on web tests.
- Anticipation and practice: repeated trials on the same test improve scores partly through prediction, not raw speed.
How to measure and interpret your own reaction time
Run several trials and take the median, not your single best attempt; one lucky click isn't your reaction time. Use the same device each time so you're tracking your brain, not your hardware. Then read the result against your age band above rather than against a universal 'good' number.
If you want a clean read, take the simple visual test a handful of times when rested, discard any sub-120 ms anticipations, and use the median as your working baseline.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average reaction time for a 15, 16, or 17 year old? Mid-to-late teens typically score close to young-adult levels on a simple visual test, roughly 250-270 ms, with reaction time still improving slightly toward its early-20s peak. Hardware and sleep affect a teen's score as much as age does.
Is a 250 ms reaction time good? On a simple visual test, 250 ms is about average for a healthy young adult. It's a solid, normal score. Faster than ~220 ms is genuinely quick, and sub-200 ms is rare and near the limits of human visual reaction.
At what age is reaction time fastest? Reaction time peaks in the early-to-mid 20s, with some research pinpointing around age 24. It stays near that level through the 30s, then slows gradually, with decline accelerating after 50.
Do men or women have faster reaction times? On average men are slightly faster, by about 13 ms in large meta-analyses. The difference is small relative to individual variation, sleep, and hardware effects, so it predicts almost nothing for any one person.
How much does reaction time slow with age? Expect roughly 2-6 ms slower per decade through midlife, accelerating later. By the 60s, simple reaction time is commonly 20-30% slower than the 20s peak, though strategy and experience often offset raw speed in real tasks.
Related on Deadline
Take the reaction time test · What is a good reaction time? · All reaction speed tests · Choice reaction time test · Psychomotor vigilance test (fatigue)
Sources and notes
- Der, G., & Deary, I. J. (2006). Age and sex differences in reaction time in adulthood: results from the United Kingdom Health and Lifestyle Survey. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 62-73. (Representative sample n=7,414).
- Deary, I. J., & Der, G. (2005). Reaction Time, Age, and Cognitive Ability: Longitudinal Findings from Age 16 to 63 Years in Representative Population Samples. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 12(2), 187-215.
- Silverman, I. W. (2006). Sex Differences in Simple Visual Reaction Time: A Historical Meta-Analysis (206 studies). Sex Roles, 54, 57-68.
- Thompson, J. J., et al. (2014). Over the Hill at 24: Persistent Age-Related Cognitive-Motor Decline in Reaction Times Begins in Early Adulthood. PLOS ONE, 9(4), e94215.
- Reaction Times for Esport Competitors and Traditional Physical Athletes are Faster than Noncompetitive Peers (2021), ResearchGate / peer-reviewed.
- Shelton, J., & Kumar, G. P. (2010). Comparison between Auditory and Visual Simple Reaction Times. Neuroscience & Medicine, 1(1), 30-32.