Flesch Reading Ease is a 1948 formula that spits out a number from roughly 0 to 100. Higher is easier. A score of 60 means "plain English that most 13–15 year olds can read." Below 30 means academic or legal. Above 90 means children's book.
The math is simple:
206.835 − 1.015 × (words / sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables / words)Two knobs control your score: sentence length and syllable count. Long sentences drop the score fast. Long words drop it faster. Swap "utilize" for "use" and your score jumps more than you'd expect.
What to actually do with a 60: if you're writing marketing copy, push for 70+. If you're writing a news article, 60 is fine. If you're writing a technical doc, 50 is realistic. Don't chase 80+ for every audience — an FT reader will find 90+ condescending.
The fastest way to raise your Flesch score is to break long sentences in half. Try it live with our free tool →
Limitations: the formula doesn't know what words mean. "Cat" and "xyz" both score one syllable. It also scores poorly for languages with different syllable structures — for Spanish, use the Fernández-Huerta variant.